Rhynchospora fernaldii |
Rhynchospora cephalantha |
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Fernald's beaksedge |
bunched beaksedge |
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Habit | Plants perennial, cespitose, 15–50 cm; rhizomes absent. | Plants perennial, cespitose, 40–100(–150) cm; rhizomes absent. |
Culms | erect or ascending, slender, leafy proximal to middle, somewhat stiff. |
arching, leafy, obscurely and convexly trigonous, multi-ribbed, slender to stoutish. |
Leaves | overtopped by culm; blades ascending, ± filiform, proximally flat or slightly concave, to 1 mm wide, apex narrowing, trigonous, abruptly blunt. |
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Inflorescences | spikelet clusters 1–2, if 2 then close together, dense, broadly turbinate to hemispheric or even globose; primary leafy bract setaceous, exceeding clusters. |
spikelet clusters 3–several, widely spaced, often equidistant, mostly hemispheric to globose, occasionally lobed, 1–2 cm thick; bracteal leaves much exceeding subtended inflorescence. |
Spikelets | redbrown, ovoid, 2–2.5(–4) mm, apex acute; fertile scales broadly ovate, 1.5–1.9(–2) mm, apex acute to acuminate, midrib excurrent as awn to 0.5 mm. |
dark red-brown to dark brown, lanceellipsoid to ellipsoid, 4–5(–6) mm, apex acute; fertile scales elliptic, 3–3.5(–4.5) mm, apex acute, midribs 3, laterals indistinct. |
Flowers | bristles 6, some reaching to apex of fruit body. |
perianth bristles 6, reaching tubercle tip, retrorsely (rarely antrorsely) barbellate. |
Fruits | 2–3 per spikelet, 1–1.2(–1.4) mm; body dull dark brown with paler brown center, lenticular, broadly obovoid to broadly ellipsoid, 1 × 0.8 mm, margins narrow, flowing to tubercle; tubercle nearly equilaterally triangular, 0.2–0.3 mm. |
1(–2) per spikelet, 3.5–4(–4.2) mm; body brown with pale center, obovoid distal to stipe, lenticular, 2–2.3 × 1–1.5(–2) mm; tubercle triangular-subulate, (1–)1.5–2 mm, at least 0.5 mm wide at base. |
Principal | leaves overtopped by culm; blades linear, flat proximally, 1.5–3 mm wide, apex tapering, trigonous. |
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Rhynchospora fernaldii |
Rhynchospora cephalantha |
|
Phenology | Fruiting summer–fall. | Fruiting summer–fall. |
Habitat | Sands and peats of low clearings in flatwoods, savannas, and bog edges | Sandy silts, sands, and peats of shores, boggy streams, seeps, savannas, and savanna bogs |
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; MS |
AL; DE; FL; GA; LA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; NY; SC; TX; VA
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Discussion | North American plants referred to Rhynchospora axillaris (Lamarck) Britton [Phaeocephala axillare (Lamarck) House by N. L. Britton and A. Brown (1913) and J. K. Small (1933)] are actually R. cephalantha. A photograph of the type specimen of Schoenus axillaris Lamarck (from P) reveals what appears to be an immature top of S. glomeratus [R. glomerata (Linnaeus) Vahl]. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 235. | FNA vol. 23, p. 212. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. fascicularis var. fernaldii | R. cephalantha var. attenuata, R. cephalantha var. pleiocephala |
Name authority | Gale: Rhodora 46: 182, plate 825, figs. 3A, B. (1944) | A. Gray: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 3: 218. (1835) |
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