Rhynchospora harveyi
Rhynchospora compressa
Harvey's beaksedge
flatfruit beaksedge
erect to excurved, leafy, obscurely trigonous, slender.
erect to ascending, leafiest at base, triangular, slender, somewhat stiff.
spreading to ascending, shorter than culm, crowded toward culm base;
blades linear, proximally flat, 1–3 mm wide, gradually involute, apically trigonous, subulate.
exceeded by culm;
basal blades crowded, spreadingexcurved, distal ascending, linear, proximally flat, 3–5 mm wide, apex trigonous, shortsubulate.
spikelet clusters 1–4, dense to open, mostly irregularly turbinate;
peduncles ascending, branches spreading to erect, ultimate branches with many spikelets; leafy bracts setaceoustipped, usually exceeding all clusters, or at least all but the distal.
spikelet clusters 3–5, compact, the proximalmost widely spaced, turbinate or lobed to hemispheric; leafy bracts setaceous, mostly overtopping clusters.
light redbrown or brown, broadly ellipsoid to lanceoloid, 3–4 mm, apex acute to acuminate;
fertile scales ovate to obovate or suborbiculate, 2–3.5 mm apex acute to rounded or emarginate, midrib included or exserted as mucro.
redbrown, broadly ovoid, 3–3.5(–4) mm, apex acuminate;
fertile scales broadly ovate to ± orbiculate, 2–2.5(–3) mm, apex rounded to notched, midrib included or shortexcurrent.
perianth bristles mostly 6, rarely reaching fruit midbody, antrorsely barbellate.
perianth bristles 6, reaching from fruit midbody to tubercle, antrorsely barbellate.
mostly 1 per spikelet, 2–2.5 mm, body dark brown, obovoid to subglobose, tumid or lenticular, 1.5–1.7 mm, transversely finely rugose to nearly level, intervals with very small, pitlike alveoli.
1–2 per spikelet, (2–)2.5–2.8(–3) mm;
body brownish, broadly obovoid to nearly orbicular, 1.5–2 × 1.5–2 mm;
surfaces strongly transversely wavyrugose, intervals rows of vertical, rectangular alveolae;
tubercle conic-subulate, basal rim flaring above short neck on achene.
Rhynchospora harveyi
Rhynchospora compressa
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Rhynchospora compressa is very closely akin to R. recognita and even coarser; inflorescence clusters are about as bristly and fertile scales blunter than those in R. recognita. It is less inclined to have an excurrent midrib, and the fruit is flatter. Both species often produce sterile spikelets, sometimes comprising an entire inflorescence.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Fruit body broadly obovoid to suborbicular, medially with mostly isodiametric tiny alveoli or pits, or minutely raised reticulate in an almost honeycomb pattern of alveolae, or simply evenly finely cancellate; ultimate spikelet complexes with clusters on stiffish branchlets, usually dense and exceeded at least by subulate tips of subtending leafy bract and bractlets. | var. harveyi |
1. Fruit body obovoid, lenticular, medially with oblong or roundish pitlike alveoli, intervals between contiguous transverse rows forming shallow, broad, pale, smooth ridges; ultimate spikelet clusters more sparse, on more slender, lax, erect to excurved branches and exceeding subtending bracts and bractlets. | var. culixa |
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