Rhynchospora harveyi
Rhynchospora knieskernii
Harvey's beaksedge
knieskern's beaksedge
erect to excurved, leafy, obscurely trigonous, slender.
erect to arching, leafy, linear to filiform, nearly triangular.
spreading to ascending, shorter than culm, crowded toward culm base;
blades linear, proximally flat, 1–3 mm wide, gradually involute, apically trigonous, subulate.
ascending, overtopped by culm;
blades flat, linear to filiform, to 1.8 mm wide, apex distally involute, trigonous, setaceous.
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.
terminal and axillary, spikelet clusters 2–4, widely spaced, the lowest near plant base;
clusters compact, broadly turbinate to hemispheric, to 1.5 cm wide; leafy bracts curved, setaceous, slightly to greatly overtopping subtended compounds.
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.
dark brown, lance-ellipsoid, 2–3 mm;
fertile scales 2 mm, apex acute, midrib short-excurrent or not.
perianth bristles mostly 6, rarely reaching fruit midbody, antrorsely barbellate.
perianth bristles 6, ± as long as fruit body, retrorsely 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.
mostly 2 per spikelet, 1.5–1.9 mm;
body brown with yellowish center, ellipsoid, lenticular distal to short stipe, 1–1.3 × 0.6–0.8 mm;
tubercle triangular, 0.3–0.6 mm, distinctly shorter than fruit body.
Rhynchospora harveyi
Rhynchospora knieskernii
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Of conservation concern.
Rhynchospora knieskernii is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.
(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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