Rhynchospora globularis var. globularis
Rhynchospora globularis
globe beaksedge
globe beakrush, globe beaksedge
erect or excurved, lax, leafy, slender to wiry.
overtopped by culm;
basal leaves spreading, twisted, distal longer, erect or ascending;
blades proximally flat, 1–3 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering.
spikelet clusters 1–4, proximalmost widely spaced, spikelets elongate, open, turbinate or compactlobed hemispheric;
branches erect to ascending; leafy bracts setaceous, exceeding proximal clusters, exceeded by distal clusters.
dark brown, nearly globose to ovoid, mostly 2 mm.
mostly dark brown to brown, globose to broadly ovoid, (2–)2.5–3(–4) mm, apex acute;
fertile scales broadly ovate to orbiculate, 1.7–2.3 mm, apex obtuse to rounded or emarginate, midrib mostly included, sometimes excurrent as apiculus.
perianth bristles rarely extending past fruit midbody.
perianth bristles 6 or less, antrorsely barbellate, of various lengths.
body distinctly transversely wavyrugose, intervals of fine or coarse, vertically rectangular alveolae;
tubercle low-conic, distinctly narrower than rounded summit of fruit body.
1–3 per spikelet, 1.5–1–8 mm (–2 mm in var. pinetorum);
body tumidly biconvex;
surfaces transversely wavyrugose, intervals of vertically rectangular alveolae or transverserugosity indistinct, surface isodiametrically alveolate or cancellate;
tubercle shortconic to patelliformapiculate.
Rhynchospora globularis var. globularis
Rhynchospora globularis
Rhynchospora globularis var. globularis is the most common of the three varieties sharing habitat, particularly disturbed ones, over much of its range with the similarly ubiquitous R. recognita. The differences between the two, once considered co-variants, are striking. Rhynschospora globularis var. globularis shows slender, mostly radiately spreadingascending, lax, comparatively shortleaved culms; its sparser, less leafybracteate clusters have smaller, rounder, darker spikelets. Associated R. recognita is obviously taller, stouter, stiffer, and longer-leaved; its dense spikelet clusters are bristly with exserted-tipped subulate bracts; its spikelets are longer in narrower outline; and it is distinctively red-brown, almost orangebrown.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Spikelets ovoid; fruit body scarcely transversely wavy rugose, instead with transverse, undulate rows of subisodiametric to very broadly rectangular lattices or alveolae. | var. pinetorum |
1. Spikelets broadly ovoid to subglobose; fruit body distinctly transversely wavy-rugose, intervals composed of irregular rows of vertical, rectangular alveolae. | → 2 |
2. Perianth bristles not extending much beyond fruit midbody; tubercle low conic, distinctly narrower than rounded summit of fruit body. | var. globularis |
2. Perianth bristles extending at least to fruit tubercle, sometimes to tip; tubercle depressed conic or patelliform, apiculate, nearly as broad as more truncate summit of fruit body. | var. saxicola |
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