Rhynchospora gracilenta
slender beaksedge
mostly lax, ascending to leaningexcurved, leafy, linear to filiform, terete.
shorter than culm;
blades ascending, filiform to narrowly linear, proximally flat, 0.5–1.5(–2.5) mm wide, margins distally strongly involute, apex trigonous, tapering.
spikelet clusters 1–3(–4), proximalmost distant, dense to sparse, narrowly turbinate to hemispheric;
peduncles and branches ascending; leafy bracts linearsetaceous, mostly overtopping clusters.
redbrown, ovoid to lanceoloid, (3.5–)4–5 mm, apex acute;
fertile scales ovate, 3–4.5 mm, apex acute, mucronate to awnedcuspidate.
bristles 6, mostly reaching tip of tubercle or beyond, antrorsely barbellate.
1–3 per spikelet, (2.5–)3–3.5(–4.1) mm;
body dark brown with small pale center, lenticular, broadly ellipsoid to suborbicular, 1.3–2.1 × 1.3–1.5 mm, smooth, margins narrow, flowing into tubercle;
tubercle triangular-subulate, compressed, mostly 1.5–2 mm.
Rhynchospora gracilenta
Through the southern coastal plain are widerleaved examples of Rhynchospora gracilenta that are sparingly cespitose to solitary-stemmed, often with but a single terminal inflorescence with dense clusters of spikelets (var. diversifolia). That would be a tenable designation were it not for the large numbers of populations with intermediate habit.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
