Rhynchospora fernaldii |
Rhynchospora pleiantha |
|
---|---|---|
Fernald's beaksedge |
coastal beaksedge |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, cespitose, 15–50 cm; rhizomes absent. | Plants perennial, densely cespitose, 10–40(–53) cm; rhizomes stoloniferous, slender. |
Culms | erect or ascending, slender, leafy proximal to middle, somewhat stiff. |
erect to excurved, leafybased, filiform. |
Leaves | overtopped by culm; blades ascending, ± filiform, proximally flat or slightly concave, to 1 mm wide, apex narrowing, trigonous, abruptly blunt. |
shorter than culm; blades ascending to excurved, filiform, proximally to 1 mm wide, margins involute, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering. |
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 1–3, laterals 0–2, turbinate, rarely hemispheric; leafy bracts setaceous, overtopping 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. |
redbrown, narrowly lanceoloid, 5–7 mm, apex acute; fertile scales lanceolate, 3.5–5 mm, apex acute, mucronate. |
Flowers | bristles 6, some reaching to apex of fruit body. |
perianth absent. |
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. |
2(–5) per spikelet, (1.7–)2–2.2 mm; body on short, setulose receptacular stipe, brown with pale center, obovoidlenticular, 0.8–1.1 mm, surfaces very finely longitudinally lined, sometimes faintly reticulatecancellate; tubercle triangular subulate, 0.7–0.9 mm, base lunate, edges setulose. |
Rhynchospora fernaldii |
Rhynchospora pleiantha |
|
Phenology | Fruiting summer–fall. | Fruiting late spring–fall. |
Habitat | Sands and peats of low clearings in flatwoods, savannas, and bog edges | Sands and peats of pond shores and moist pine savannas, particularly in karst districts |
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; MS |
AL; FL; GA; NC; West Indies (Cuba) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 235. | FNA vol. 23, p. 233. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. fascicularis var. fernaldii | R. filifolia var. pleiantha |
Name authority | Gale: Rhodora 46: 182, plate 825, figs. 3A, B. (1944) | (Kükenthal) Gale: Rhodora 46: 171. (1944) |
Web links |