Rhynchospora fascicularis |
Rhynchospora pineticola |
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fascicled beaksedge |
pine barren beaksedge |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, cespitose, 100–150 cm; rhizomes absent. | Plants perennial, mostly densely cespitose, 20–70 cm, base deep rich redbrown; rhizomes absent. |
Culms | erect to excurvedascending, narrowly linear to ± filiform, terete to obscurely trigonous, leafy, densely so toward base, stiff to rather lax. |
erect to ascending, leafy, stiff. |
Leaves | overtopped by culm; blades linear, ascending, proximally flat, 1–4 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering gradually. |
shorter than scape; blades narrowly linear, (1–)2–3 mm wide, margins involute, apex trigonous, tapering. |
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. |
clusters 1–2, if 2 then close together, dense, broadly turbinate to hemispheric or lobedglobose; primary leafy bract linear, stiff, exceeding clusters. |
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. |
light to dark redbrown, lanceovoid, 3.5–6 mm, apex acuminate; fertile scales ovate, convex, 3–3.5(–4) mm, apex acuminate, low midrib excurrent or not. |
Flowers | bristles 5–6, from rudimentary to reaching tubercle tip, or (rarely) beyond, antrorsely barbellate. |
perianth bristles 6, reaching at least to tubercle base, plumose from base to more than 1/2 length of fruit body. |
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(–2) per spikelet, (2–)2.5–2.8(–3) mm; body redbrown or brown, tumidly obovoid, (1.5–)2–2.2 × 1–1.7 mm; surfaces interruptedly transversely rugulose; tubercle broadly conic, 0.5–0.8(–1) mm, base broadly 2lobed, apex often apiculate. |
Rhynchospora fascicularis |
Rhynchospora pineticola |
|
Phenology | Fruiting late spring–fall or all year (south). | Fruiting spring–fall or all year. |
Habitat | Sands and peats of interdunal swales, depressions in savannas, open flatwoods, and seep-bog edges | Sands and sandy peat of bog margins, pinelands and pine saw palmetto flats among wiregrass |
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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FL; 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.) |
Rhynchospora pineticola is distinguished from taller extremes of R. plumosa by its thicker leaves and scapes and its longer spikelets and fruit. Its bases are a deep rich red-brown rather than the pale brown or dull deep brown of R. plumosa. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 239. | FNA vol. 23, p. 219. |
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 | Phaeocephalum intermedium, R. intermedia, R. plumosa var. intermedia |
Name authority | (Michaux) Vahl: Enum. Pl. 2: 234. (1805) | C. B. Clarke: Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew, addit. ser. 8: 40. (1908) |
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