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onespike beaksedge

tall beaksedge, tall horned beaksedge

Habit Plants perennial, solitary or cespitose, 50–60 cm; rhizomes absent. Plants perennial, cespitose, 80–150(–170) cm, coarse; rhizomes absent.
Culms

erect to ascending, narrowly linear, wandlike, terete, leafy proximal to middle.

stiffly erect, leafy, triangular, multiribbed.

Leaves

erect to ascending;

blades proximally flat, 2.5–3.5 mm wide, apex tapering, tip abruptly blunt.

ascending, overtopped by inflorescence;

blades flat proximally, 3–10(–15) mm wide, apex attenuate, trigonous.

Inflorescences

terminal, cluster of spikelets crowded, broadly turbinate to hemispheric, to 1.5 cm wide; leafy bracts linearsetaceous, slightly exceeding cluster.

terminal and axillary, narrow, clusters of corymbs, clusters dense, mostly broadly turbinate, 13–15 mm;

bracteal leaves mostly exceeding subtended compounds.

Spikelets

orangebrown, lancefusiform, 6–7 mm, apex acuminate;

fertile scales lanceovate, 4–5 mm, apex acuminate with excurved awn to 1 mm.

brown, lanceoloid, 13–15 mm, apex acuminate;

fertile scales lanceolate, 10–13 mm, apex acuminate, midrib shortexcurrent.

Flowers

bristles 3–4, some reaching tubercle tip, antrorsely barbellate.

longer perianth bristles usually fully 2 times length of fruit body, antrorsely barbellate.

Fruits

1–2 per spikelet, 2–2.1 mm;

body brown with paler center, obovoidlenticular, 1.5–1.7 × 1.2–1.3 mm, margins flowing to tubercle;

surfaces finely transversely striate with minute pits;

tubercle lowtriangular, 0.3–0.5 mm.

1–2 per spikelet, 20–25 mm;

body pyriformobovoid, compressed, 5–6 × 2.6–3.6 mm;

tubercle attenuate, 2-grooved, (15–)18–20(–21) mm.

2n

= 18.

Rhynchospora solitaria

Rhynchospora macrostachya

Phenology Fruiting summer–fall. Fruiting summer–fall.
Habitat Sandy peat of depressions in pine flatwoods savannas, edges of hillside bogs Acidic sunny wetlands, mostly pond shores, seeps, bogs, marshlands
Elevation 0–200 m (0–700 ft) 0–400 m (0–1300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
GA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; NC; NJ; NY; OK; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Rhynchospora solitaria appears to be the least common North American species of Rhynchospora with two of the five given localities apparently lost. The name “solitaria” is deceptive; the plants sometimes form small tufts of culms. The most distinctive feature in the field is the attractive orangebrown color of the narrow, acuminate, bristlescaled spikelets.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Rhynchospora macrostachya is quickly distinguished from other species of its complex by more compact clusters, arranged on successive mid and distal nodes to present a narrow inflorescence outline. Its perianth bristles and fruit tubercles are the longest in the complex, probably in the entire genus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 23, p. 238. FNA vol. 23, p. 209.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora
Sibling taxa
R. alba, R. baldwinii, R. brachychaeta, R. breviseta, R. caduca, R. californica, R. capillacea, R. capitellata, R. careyana, R. cephalantha, R. chalarocephala, R. chapmanii, R. ciliaris, R. colorata, R. compressa, R. corniculata, R. crinipes, R. curtissii, R. debilis, R. decurrens, R. divergens, R. elliottii, R. eximia, R. fascicularis, R. fernaldii, R. filifolia, R. floridensis, R. fusca, R. globularis, R. glomerata, R. gracilenta, R. grayi, R. harperi, R. harveyi, R. indianolensis, R. inexpansa, R. inundata, R. knieskernii, R. kunthii, R. latifolia, R. macra, R. macrostachya, R. megalocarpa, R. megaplumosa, R. microcarpa, R. microcephala, R. miliacea, R. mixta, R. nitens, R. nivea, R. odorata, R. oligantha, R. pallida, R. perplexa, R. pineticola, R. pleiantha, R. plumosa, R. punctata, R. pusilla, R. rariflora, R. recognita, R. scirpoides, R. stenophylla, R. thornei, R. torreyana, R. tracyi, R. wrightiana
R. alba, R. baldwinii, R. brachychaeta, R. breviseta, R. caduca, R. californica, R. capillacea, R. capitellata, R. careyana, R. cephalantha, R. chalarocephala, R. chapmanii, R. ciliaris, R. colorata, R. compressa, R. corniculata, R. crinipes, R. curtissii, R. debilis, R. decurrens, R. divergens, R. elliottii, R. eximia, R. fascicularis, R. fernaldii, R. filifolia, R. floridensis, R. fusca, R. globularis, R. glomerata, R. gracilenta, R. grayi, R. harperi, R. harveyi, R. indianolensis, R. inexpansa, R. inundata, R. knieskernii, R. kunthii, R. latifolia, R. macra, R. megalocarpa, R. megaplumosa, R. microcarpa, R. microcephala, R. miliacea, R. mixta, R. nitens, R. nivea, R. odorata, R. oligantha, R. pallida, R. perplexa, R. pineticola, R. pleiantha, R. plumosa, R. punctata, R. pusilla, R. rariflora, R. recognita, R. scirpoides, R. solitaria, R. stenophylla, R. thornei, R. torreyana, R. tracyi, R. wrightiana
Synonyms Ceratoschoenus macrostachyus, R. macrostachya var. colpophylla
Name authority R. M. Harper: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 28: 468. (1901) Torrey ex A. Gray: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 3: 206. (1835)
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