Rhynchospora harperi |
Rhynchospora kunthii |
|
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Harper's beaksedge |
Kunth's beaksedge |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, solitary or cespitose, 50–70 cm; rhizomes absent. | Plants solitary or in small tufts, (5–)10–70 cm, clonal; rhizomes strongly present, stoloniferous. |
Culms | erect to excurved, leafybased, narrowly linear, ± terete. |
leafiest toward base, ± trigonous, slender. |
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. |
basal leaves spreadingascending, distal more erect, mostly exceeded by culms (except in highaltitude forms); blades proximally flat or strongly folded, 1.5–4 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate. |
Inflorescences | spikelet clusters 1–3, laterals 0–2, all turbinate to hemispheric, terminal internode usually excurved; leafy bracts setaceous, overtopping inflorescence. |
spikelet clusters (2–)3–5, compact, proximalmost widely spaced, turbinate to ovoid; peduncles ascending; branches ascending to spreading; leaf bracts exceeding proximalmost clusters, exceeded by distal cluster. |
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. |
deep redbrown to nearly black, ovoid, 3–4 mm, apex acute; fertile scales ovate, 2.5–3 mm, apex acute, midrib included or shortexcurrent. |
Flowers | bristles 6, reaching from mid tubercle to beyond tip. |
perianth bristles 6, some short, some extending to or nearly to tubercle base, antrorsely barbellate. |
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. |
2–3 per spikelet, 2–2.1 mm; body pale yellowbrown, lenticular, broadly ellipsoidobovoid, 1.3–1.6 × 1–1.2 mm; surfaces transversely irregularly rugulose, intervals with rows of vertical, narrowly rectangular alveolae; tubercle evenly or concavely triangular, 0.5–0.6(–0.7) mm. |
Rhynchospora harperi |
Rhynchospora kunthii |
|
Phenology | Fruiting summer–fall. | Fruiting late spring–summer. |
Habitat | Sands and peats of bogs, stream banks, edges of pineland savanna ponds, Hypericum ponds | Marsh meadows, seeps, boggy sites |
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) | 1000–3500 m (3300–11500 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; DE; FL; GA; MD; MS; NC; SC; Central America (Belize)
|
CA; Mexico; South America (Colombia) |
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.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 233. | FNA vol. 23, p. 225. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora | Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. fascicularis var. harperi, R. leptorhyncha | R. schaffneri |
Name authority | Small: Man. S.E. Fl., 182, 1503. (1933) | Nees ex Kunth: Enum. Pl. 2: 296. (1837) |
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