Rhynchospora inexpansa |
Rhynchospora capillacea |
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nodding beaksedge |
brown beak-rush, horned beakrush, needle beaksedge, rhynchospore capillaire, slender beakrush |
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Habit | Plants perennial, cespitose, 30–120 cm; rhizomes absent. | Plants perennial, cespitose, 10–40 cm, wiry; rhizomes stoloniferous, slender, to 1.5 mm thick. |
Culms | arching, leafy, droopingtipped, ± terete, ribbed, slender. |
erect or curved, leafy, filiform, angularly fewribbed. |
Leaves | ascending-excurved, overtopped by culm; blades filiform, involute, apex setaceous. |
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Inflorescences | clusters of spikelets 3–6, progressively wider-spaced proximally, narrow, elongate; leafy bracts slender, mostly exceeding clusters. |
spikelet clusters 1–2(–3), often sparse, ellipsoid or narrowly turbinate, less than 1 cm wide; subtending foliaceous bracts exceeding compounds. |
Spikelets | redbrown, lanceoloid, 5–7 mm, apex acuminate; fertile scales narrowly ovate, 4–5 mm, apex acuminate, midrib included or shortexcurrent. |
erect or ascending, pale redbrown to brown, fusiform, 6–7 mm; fertile scales elliptic, 4 mm, apex rounded or acute, midrib shortexcurrent or not. |
Flowers | perianth bristles 6, exceeding tubercle, antrorsely barbellate. |
perianth bristles 6, overtopping tubercle base, mostly retrorsely barbellate, sometimes smooth [forma laeviseta (E. |
Fruits | (1–)2–3(–4) per spikelet, 3–3.2 mm; body brown, narrowly oblong-ellipsoid, flattened, 2 × 0.8–1 mm; surface strongly transversely wavyrugose, vertically finely striate between ridges; tubercle compressed, narrowly triangular-subulate, 1 mm. |
1–4(–5) per spikelet, 2.5–3 mm; body pale brown, slender stipitate, ellipsoid, lenticular, 1.5–2 × 0.8–1 mm; surfaces longitudinally minutely striate, obscurely transversely lowrugose, dotted; tubercle narrowly triangularsubulate, flattened, 0.8–1.7 mm. |
Principal | leaves exceeded by culm; blades spreading to ascending, narrowly linear, proximally flat, 2–3.5 mm wide, apex trigonous, tapering. |
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j | . |
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Hill | ) Fernald]. |
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Rhynchospora inexpansa |
Rhynchospora capillacea |
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Phenology | Fruiting summer–fall. | Fruiting summer–fall. |
Habitat | Sands, peats, clays, and silts of moist meadows, shores of ponds, flatwoods, disturbed low areas | Moist to wet calcareous fens, seeps over limestones or calcareous rock, marsh meadows |
Elevation | 0–300 m (0–1000 ft) | 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; VA
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AL; AR; CT; IA; IL; IN; MA; ME; MI; MN; MO; ND; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; AB; MB; NB; NL; ON; QC; SK
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Discussion | The two beakrushes most commonly occurring in fens are Rhynchospora capillacea and R. capitellata. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 222. | FNA vol. 23, p. 213. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Schoenus inexpansus | Phaeocephalum capillaceum, R. setacea, Triodon capillaceus |
Name authority | (Michaux) Vahl: Enum. Pl. 2: 232. (1805) | Torrey: Fl. N. Middle United States 1: 55. (1823) |
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