Rhynchospora fascicularis |
Rhynchospora microcephala |
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fascicled beaksedge |
smallhead beaksedge |
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Habit | Plants perennial, cespitose, 100–150 cm; rhizomes absent. | Plants perennial, cespitose, 30–90 cm; rhizomes absent. |
Culms | erect to excurvedascending, narrowly linear to ± filiform, terete to obscurely trigonous, leafy, densely so toward base, stiff to rather lax. |
arching or erect, leafy, nearly terete, multiribbed, slender. |
Leaves | overtopped by culm; blades linear, ascending, proximally flat, 1–4 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering gradually. |
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Inflorescences | spikelet clusters 1–3(–4), proximal mostly widely spaced, dense, broadly turbinate to hemispheric, to 2 cm broad; leafy bracts subulate, exceeding proximal spikelets, slightly or not exceeding most distal clusters. |
spikelet clusters 2–6, mostly widely spaced; clusters dense, hemispheric to mostly spheroid, 0.5–1 cm thick. |
Spikelets | redbrown, narrowly ovoid, (3–)3.5–5 mm, apex acute; fertile scales ovate, 3–3.5(–4) mm, apex acute, mostly with cusp or mucro 0.5–1 mm. |
dark redbrown to dark brown, lanceovoid, (2–)2.5–3.5(–4) mm, apex acute; fertile scales elliptic, 2–3 mm, apex acute, midrib shortexcurrent or not. |
Flowers | bristles 5–6, from rudimentary to reaching tubercle tip, or (rarely) beyond, antrorsely barbellate. |
perianth bristles 6, reaching tubercle tip, retrorsely barbellate. |
Fruits | 1–3 per spikelet, (1.5–)2–2.2(–2.5) mm; body dark brown with pale center, lenticular, broadly ellipsoid to ± orbicular, (1.3–)1.5–1.7(–1.9) × 1–1.5 mm, margins pale, narrow or narrowly rounded, flowing to tubercle; surfaces dull, minutely longitudinally striate; tubercle compressed, triangular to triangularsubulate, 0.5–0.7(–0.9) mm. |
1 per spikelet, 2.5–3 mm; body pale brown with light center, lenticular, obovoid distal to stipe, 1.1–1.5 × 0.9–1.1 mm, margins pale, wirelike, surfaces slick; tubercle triangularsubulate, 0.9–1.2(–1.5) mm, at least 0.5 mm wide at base. |
Principal | leaves overtopped by culm; blades linear, proximally flattened, 1–3 mm wide, apex tapering, trigonous. |
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Rhynchospora fascicularis |
Rhynchospora microcephala |
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Phenology | Fruiting late spring–fall or all year (south). | Fruiting summer–fall. |
Habitat | Sands and peats of interdunal swales, depressions in savannas, open flatwoods, and seep-bog edges | Sands and sandy peats of savanna swales, pineland seeps, bogs, ditches, pond shores and banks |
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; VA; Central America; Bermuda
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AL; DC; DE; FL; GA; LA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; SC; VA; West Indies (Cuba)
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Discussion | In her revision, S. Gale (1944) treated var. distans as the more slender version of the species, one with a smaller inflorescence, more distinctly margined fruit body, and consistently elongate perianth bristles. All those character states appear to vary independently over the total range of the species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 239. | FNA vol. 23, p. 213. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Schoenus fascicularis, Dichromena distans, Phaeocephalum fasciculare, Phaeocephalum distans, R. distans, R. distans var. fascicularis, R. dommucensis, R. fascicularis var. distans, Schoenus distans | R. axillaris var. microcephala, R. cephalantha var. microcephala |
Name authority | (Michaux) Vahl: Enum. Pl. 2: 234. (1805) | (Britton) Britton ex Small: Fl. S.E. U.S., 195. (1903) |
Web links |