Rhynchospora harperi
Rhynchospora pineticola
Harper's beaksedge
pine barren beaksedge
erect to excurved, leafybased, narrowly linear, ± terete.
erect to ascending, leafy, stiff.
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.
shorter than scape;
blades narrowly linear, (1–)2–3 mm wide, margins involute, apex trigonous, tapering.
spikelet clusters 1–3, laterals 0–2, all turbinate to hemispheric, terminal internode usually excurved; leafy bracts setaceous, overtopping inflorescence.
clusters 1–2, if 2 then close together, dense, broadly turbinate to hemispheric or lobedglobose;
primary leafy bract linear, stiff, exceeding 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.
light to dark redbrown, lanceovoid, 3.5–6 mm, apex acuminate;
fertile scales ovate, convex, 3–3.5(–4) mm, apex acuminate, low midrib excurrent or not.
bristles 6, reaching from mid tubercle to beyond tip.
perianth bristles 6, reaching at least to tubercle base, plumose from base to more than 1/2 length of fruit body.
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(–2) per spikelet, (2–)2.5–2.8(–3) mm;
body redbrown or brown, tumidly obovoid, (1.5–)2–2.2 × 1–1.7 mm;
surfaces interruptedly transversely rugulose;
tubercle broadly conic, 0.5–0.8(–1) mm, base broadly 2lobed, apex often apiculate.
Rhynchospora harperi
Rhynchospora pineticola
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 pineticola is distinguished from taller extremes of R. plumosa by its thicker leaves and scapes and its longer spikelets and fruit. Its bases are a deep rich red-brown rather than the pale brown or dull deep brown of R. plumosa.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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