Rhynchospora harperi |
Rhynchospora chapmanii |
|
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Harper's beaksedge |
Chapman's beaksedge |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, solitary or cespitose, 50–70 cm; rhizomes absent. | Plants perennial, densely cespitose, 30–50(–70) cm; rhizomes absent. |
Culms | erect to excurved, leafybased, narrowly linear, ± terete. |
erect to excurved, filiform, leafy, stiff to lax. |
Leaves | shorter than culm; blades ascending, narrowly linear, proximally flat or margins slightly involute, 0.5–1(–2) mm wide, distally canaliculate, apex trigonous, tapering, subulate. |
mostly slightly exceeded by culm; blades ± filiform, proximally flat to concave, distally tapering, to 1 mm wide, margins involute, apex trigonous, subulate. |
Inflorescences | spikelet clusters 1–3, laterals 0–2, all turbinate to hemispheric, terminal internode usually excurved; leafy bracts setaceous, overtopping inflorescence. |
terminal; spikelet clusters 1(–2), dense, broadly turbinate to hemispheric; longer leafy bracts 1–2(–several), setaceous, overtopping inflorescence. |
Spikelets | redbrown, lanceoloid, 5–7 mm, apex acute; fertile scales lanceolate, (2.5–)4–5 mm, apex acute to acuminate; midrib paralleled by several indistinct ribs, excurrent as short awns. |
light brown, narrowly ovoid, 2–2.5(–3) mm, apex acute or acuminate; fertile scales 1.5–2(–2.5) mm, apex acute, midrib excurrent as cusp or awn 0.5–0.9 mm. |
Flowers | bristles 6, reaching from mid tubercle to beyond tip. |
bristles absent, rarely reduced to nubbins, or rarely 1, then shorter than fruit body. |
Fruits | 3(–4) per spikelet, 2.1–2.5 mm; stipe and receptacle 0.2–0.3 mm, sparsely setose and setulose; body glossy, brown with pale center, obovoid-lenticular, 1.1–1.5 × 1–1.1 mm, surfaces finely longitudinally lined, variably low papillatecancellate, also often transversely with wavy lines of dark dots; tubercle flattened, triangular-subulate, (0.8–)0.9–1(–1.1) mm, setulose-ciliate. |
1 per spikelet, 1–1.8 mm; body with dark brown ends, broad pale midzone, lenticular, ± orbicular, 1–1.2 × 0.8–1 mm, surfaces smooth; margins sharp, flowing to tubercle; tubercle lowtriangular, 0.2–0.3(–0.5) mm, sometimes apiculate. |
Rhynchospora harperi |
Rhynchospora chapmanii |
|
Phenology | Fruiting summer–fall. | Fruiting summer–fall; |
Habitat | Sands and peats of bogs, stream banks, edges of pineland savanna ponds, Hypericum ponds | |
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; DE; FL; GA; MD; MS; NC; SC; Central America (Belize)
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AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC
|
Discussion | Rhynchospora harperi is most abundant in a very special habitat referred to here as the “Hypericum pond.” These are typically shallow ponds in pine savannas, frequently ringed by stands of Nyssa, Taxodium, Ilex, and Cyrilla, but most of the pond itself is dominated by one or more myriandrous shrubby Hypericum species. Here R. harperi is distinguished from other species by the often abrupt bend of its ultimate internode. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Rhynchospora chapmanii is a frequent invader of logged or otherwise disturbed pine savannas, often an aspect dominant. Its pale inflorescences are conspicuous masses in autumn. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 233. | FNA vol. 23, p. 234. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. fascicularis var. harperi, R. leptorhyncha | Phaeocephalum chapmanii |
Name authority | Small: Man. S.E. Fl., 182, 1503. (1933) | M. A. Curtis: Amer. J. Sci. Arts, ser. 2, 7: 409. (1849) |
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