Rhynchospora harperi
Rhynchospora fascicularis
Harper's beaksedge
fascicled beaksedge
erect to excurved, leafybased, narrowly linear, ± terete.
erect to excurvedascending, narrowly linear to ± filiform, terete to obscurely trigonous, leafy, densely so toward base, stiff to rather lax.
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.
overtopped by culm;
blades linear, ascending, proximally flat, 1–4 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering gradually.
spikelet clusters 1–3, laterals 0–2, all turbinate to hemispheric, terminal internode usually excurved; leafy bracts setaceous, overtopping inflorescence.
spikelet clusters 1–3(–4), proximal mostly widely spaced, dense, broadly turbinate to hemispheric, to 2 cm broad; leafy bracts subulate, exceeding proximal spikelets, slightly or not exceeding most distal clusters.
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.
redbrown, narrowly ovoid, (3–)3.5–5 mm, apex acute;
fertile scales ovate, 3–3.5(–4) mm, apex acute, mostly with cusp or mucro 0.5–1 mm.
bristles 6, reaching from mid tubercle to beyond tip.
bristles 5–6, from rudimentary to reaching tubercle tip, or (rarely) beyond, antrorsely barbellate.
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.
1–3 per spikelet, (1.5–)2–2.2(–2.5) mm;
body dark brown with pale center, lenticular, broadly ellipsoid to ± orbicular, (1.3–)1.5–1.7(–1.9) × 1–1.5 mm, margins pale, narrow or narrowly rounded, flowing to tubercle;
surfaces dull, minutely longitudinally striate;
tubercle compressed, triangular to triangularsubulate, 0.5–0.7(–0.9) mm.
Rhynchospora harperi
Rhynchospora fascicularis
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.)
In her revision, S. Gale (1944) treated var. distans as the more slender version of the species, one with a smaller inflorescence, more distinctly margined fruit body, and consistently elongate perianth bristles. All those character states appear to vary independently over the total range of the species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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