Rhynchospora megalocarpa
Rhynchospora microcarpa
sandyfield beaksedge
southern beaksedge
erect to arching, leafy, trigonous, slender, firm.
erect to ascending, arching, lax, leafy, slender, trigonous.
overtopped by culms;
blades linear, proximally flat, 3–7 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering.
exceeded by inflorescence;
blades ascending to spreading, linear, proximally flat, 1–2(–3) mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering.
spikelet clusters 2–6, sparse, widely spaced, turbinate;
peduncles and branches ascending; leafy bracts exceeding proximal clusters.
spikelet clusters 4–6, mostly dense, widely spaced, narrowly turbinate to ellipsoid;
peduncles erect to ascending, branches ascending; leafy bracts exceeding proximal clusters.
light redbrown, ovoid to ellipsoid, (4–)5–8(–9) mm, apex acute or acuminate;
fertile scales ovate, (5.5–)6–6.5(–7) mm, midrib included or shortexcurrent.
dark brown, ovoid, 2–3 mm, apex acute;
fertile scales broadly ovate to ± orbiculate, cupulate, 1.5–2 mm, apex rounded to acute, midrib included or excurrent as bristle.
perianth bristles 6(–8), mostly reaching from fruit midbody to tubercle base, antrorsely barbellate.
perianth bristles 6, from vestigial to (rarely) reaching tubercle tip, antrorsely barbellate.
1–2 per spikelet, (3.5–)4–5 mm;
body dark brown to mahogany or nearly black, broadly obovoid, tumid, nearly smooth, buttressed to tubercle;
tubercle lowconic, rimmed, 0.7(–1) mm, apex apiculate.
2–3 per spikelet, 1.2–1.5 mm;
body brown, obovoid to globose, lenticular, 1–1.2 × 0.8–1 mm, margins narrow, distinct;
surfaces sharply transversely wavyrugose, intervals with rows of vertical, broadly rectangular or ± isodiametric alveolae;
tubercle lowtriangular or triangular, compressed, 0.2–0.3 mm, base lunate.
Rhynchospora megalocarpa
Rhynchospora microcarpa
The perianth in Rhynchospora megalocarpa is unusual. The receptacular joint is stubby, bearing staggered cycles of bristles that vary extremely in length and number—on a par with R. alba, R. baldwinii, and R. macra in numbers of bristles. The greatest extreme is twelve, the fewest as low as two; usually if the number is low, the remaining sites for bristles will be dark-colored nubbins.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Through much of the range of Rhynchospora microcarpa, particularly in limesink or claybased pond areas, is a somewhat shorter series of plants with narrow leaves, tumid fruit 0.7–0.9 mm, often with isodiametric alveolae and depressedtriangular tubercles. Described by S. Gale as R. sulcata, the plants grade into the more typical morphology for R. microcarpa. In peninsular Florida, apparent intergradation with R. elliottii produces some individuals with broad leaves and triangularsubulate tubercles on nearly flat fruits.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
LA Plants
