Rhynchospora fascicularis |
Rhynchospora torreyana |
|
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fascicled beaksedge |
Torrey's beaksedge |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, cespitose, 100–150 cm; rhizomes absent. | Plants perennial, cespitose, 50–100 cm; rhizomes absent. |
Culms | erect to excurvedascending, narrowly linear to ± filiform, terete to obscurely trigonous, leafy, densely so toward base, stiff to rather lax. |
ascending-excurved, leafy, ± terete, slender. |
Leaves | overtopped by culm; blades linear, ascending, proximally flat, 1–4 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering gradually. |
ascending, overtopped by culm; blades narrowly linear, proximally flat, 2–3 mm wide, 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. |
spikelet clusters (1–)2–3, widely spaced, open to dense, broadly to narrowly turbinate, branches ascending to slightly spreading, capillary; leafy bracts setaceous-tipped, overtopping all but distal 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 red-brown, ovoid, 3.5–5 mm, apex acuminate; fertile scales ovate, 2.5–3.5 mm, apex acute, midrib excurrent as cusp or mucro. |
Flowers | bristles 5–6, from rudimentary to reaching tubercle tip, or (rarely) beyond, antrorsely barbellate. |
perianth bristles 6, reaching at most 2/3 length of fruit body, antrorsely 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. |
1–4(–5) per spikelet, 2 mm; body brown, strongly compressed, obovoid-ellipsoid, 1.4–1.6 × 1–1.2 mm, margins flowing to tubercle; surfaces finely transversely rugose, intervals with narrow vertical alveolae; tubercle flat, low-triangular, 0.2–0.3(–0.5) mm. |
Rhynchospora fascicularis |
Rhynchospora torreyana |
|
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 peats of low meadows, savannas, flatwoods, pond shores, ditch 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
|
AL; CT; DE; FL; GA; MA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; RI; SC; VA |
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.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 239. | FNA vol. 23, p. 224. |
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 torreyanum |
Name authority | (Michaux) Vahl: Enum. Pl. 2: 234. (1805) | A. Gray: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 3: 197. (1835) |
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