Rhynchospora latifolia
Rhynchospora inundata
sandswamp whitetop
inundated beakrush, narrow-fruit beaksedge, narrowfruit horned beaksedge
arching or erect, leafy-based, distally wandlike, terete, multiribbed.
stiffly erect, leafy, triangular, multiribbed.
ascending to spreading, overtopped by scape;
blades linear, proximally flat, 2.5–5 mm wide, apex subulate, trigonous.
erect, distal ones overtopping inflorescence;
principal blades flat proximally, trigonous distally, 3–10 mm wide, apex attenuate.
terminal, headlike clusters of spikelets, clusters dense, leafy-involucrate;
involucral bracts several, spreading to downcurved, longest 6–13 cm × 5–10 mm, mostly white to midbract, then green, abruptly narrowly linear.
terminal and axillary, clusters of corymbs (1–)2–3, open, spikelet clusters loose;
bracteal leaves mostly overtopping corymbs.
white, ovoid, 5–7 mm;
fertile scales boatshaped, sharply curved-keeled, 5 mm, apex acute.
pale redbrown, narrowly lanceoloid, (9–)11–14 mm, apex acuminate;
fertile scales lanceolate, 9–13 mm, apex acuminate, midrib shortexcurrent or not.
perianth absent.
perianth bristles 5–6, extending at least 5 mm beyond tubercle base, antrorsely barbellate.
several per spikelet, 1.5–2 mm;
body yellowish to deep brown, tumidly lenticular, broadly obovoid to orbicular or oblate, 1.5 mm, widest at or toward midbody, margins flowing to tubercle;
surfaces with many fine rows of vertical shallow lattices, their contiguous ends making transverse rows of papillae;
tubercle crescent-based, depressed-triangular, 0.5 mm, apex acute.
1–2 per spikelet, 15–20 mm;
body stipitate, obovoid to oblong, compressed, 4–5 × 2–3 mm, margins thick;
surfaces concave, horizontally finely striate, minutely cancellate;
tubercle stoutbased, grooved, subulate, 10–15 mm, setulose.
= 12.
Rhynchospora latifolia
Rhynchospora inundata
A specimen collected near Tullahoma, Tennessee, reported as Dichromena latifolia (A. Gattinger 1901), was later destroyed by fire. I did not see the specimen, nor was a description of it published. Because extant populations of the similar Rhynchospora colorata are just over the border in Alabama, that species is likely to have been the one found by Gattinger.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Rhynchospora inundata is largely confined to lower Coastal Plain terraces, mostly along the present coast. Typical plants have narrow fruit bodies and narrow inflorescences of sparse clusters, well overtopped by leaves and erect leafy bracts. By contrast, plants of R. careyana have broader fruits, shorter perianths, and larger, broader inflorescences that overtop most or all leaves and bracts. In general, plants of R. careyana are more robust and grow in more acid sites than those of R. inundata. Southward in the Atlantic Coastal and Gulf Coastal plains are broad areas of ecotone where the two species intergrade.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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