Rhynchospora harveyi
Rhynchospora miliacea
Harvey's beaksedge
millet beaksedge
erect to excurved, leafy, obscurely trigonous, slender.
lax, leafy, wandlike, ± terete to obscurely angled, slender.
spreading to ascending, shorter than culm, crowded toward culm base;
blades linear, proximally flat, 1–3 mm wide, gradually involute, apically trigonous, subulate.
ascending, exceeded by culms;
blades flat, 4–7(–10) mm wide, apex trigonous, shortacuminate, tapering.
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 4–6 or more, equidistant along culm on ascending peduncles, branches capillary, divaricate, clusters loose, diffuse, rounded.
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.
light brown, ellipsoid to lanceoloid or ovoid, 2.5–3.5 mm, apex acute;
fertile scales ovate, (1.5–)2–3 mm, apex rounded or acute, midrib forming apiculus.
perianth bristles mostly 6, rarely reaching fruit midbody, antrorsely barbellate.
perianth bristles 6, longest exceeding 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.
2–several per spikelet, 1.3–1.5 mm;
body pale brown, broadly obovoid, tumidly biconvex, 1.1–1.2 × 1–1.1 mm;
surfaces transversely sharply wavyrugulose, intervals with vertical, rectangular, shallow alveolae;
tubercle depressedconic, slightly compressed, 0.2–0.3(–0.4) mm, edges setulose.
Rhynchospora harveyi
Rhynchospora miliacea
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The ultimate branches in Rhynchospora miliacea typically terminate in only one or two spikelets, the scales of which fall quickly, and the exposed fruits look like short miniature strings of beads.
(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 |
KS Wildflowers
LA Plants
MO Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
