Rhynchospora fascicularis
Rhynchospora plumosa
fascicled beaksedge
plumed beaksedge
erect to excurvedascending, narrowly linear to ± filiform, terete to obscurely trigonous, leafy, densely so toward base, stiff to rather lax.
erect or excurved, filiform to linear.
overtopped by culm;
blades linear, ascending, proximally flat, 1–4 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering gradually.
erect or excurved, shorter than scape;
blades filiform to linear, to 1.5 mm wide, margins involute, apex trigonous, tapering.
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 1–several, dense or sparse, when several, either widely spaced or close together, if widely spaced then ovoid to hemispheric, if close together then lobed ellipse or cylinder; leafy bracts filiform, setaceous, overtopping each cluster.
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 redbrown to deep brown, broadly fusiform to ovoid, (2.5–)3.5–4 mm, apex acute to acuminate;
fertile scale broadly ovate, strongly convex, (1.5–)2–3 mm, apex acuminate to mucronate, midrib excurrent or not.
bristles 5–6, from rudimentary to reaching tubercle tip, or (rarely) beyond, antrorsely barbellate.
perianth bristles 6, plumose, reaching at least to fruit midbody, often to tubercle tip.
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, (1.5–)2–2.5 mm;
body redbrown or brown, tumidly obovoid or ellipsoid, sometimes obscurely lenticular, (1.2–)1.3–1.8(–2) × 1–1.5 mm;
surfaces interruptedly crossrugulose;
tubercle narrowly to broadly conic, mostly 0.3–0.5 mm, base flaring, round or indistinctly 2lobed.
Rhynchospora fascicularis
Rhynchospora plumosa
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.)
Particularly in Gulf Coastal Plain savannas, Rhynchospora plumosa appears to have two distinct morphs: one very densely cespitose with filiform leaves, filiform, arching culms, and spikelets in short, broad, dark brown clusters, and the other morph taller, stiffer, with broader leaves and culms, and longer, sharper, paler spikelets in narrow compounds of clusters. After many attempts to do what others have—namely to create two distinct species—I have had to retrench, because so many intergrades occur.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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