Rhynchospora wrightiana
Rhynchospora brachychaeta
Wright's beaksedge
West Indian beaksedge
slender, ± filiform, leafy, terete to bluntly trigonous.
erect to excurved, lax, filiform, leafy, ± terete.
shorter than culm;
blades spreading to ascending, ± filiform, proximally flat, 0.5–1(–1.5) mm, apex tapering, trigonous.
exceeded by culm, ascending;
blades filiform, ± terete, margins strongly involute, apex trigonous, sulcate, tapering.
spikelet clusters 1–3, loose to dense, widely spaced to close together, turbinate to hemispheric; leafy bracts setaceous, mostly exceeding spikelet clusters.
spikelet clusters mostly 2–3, sparse to dense, oblong to broadly or narrowly turbinate; leafy bracts setaceous, exceeding clusters.
dark redbrown, lanceovoid, 2.5–3.5(–4) mm, apex acute;
fertile scales ovate, 2–3.5 mm, apex acute or acuminate, rarely minutely awned.
pale redbrown, lanceoloid, 3–3.5 mm, apex acute;
fertile scales mostly elliptic, 2–2.5 mm, apex acute, sometimes apiculate.
bristles 6, of various length, mostly extending from fruit midbody to tubercle base, antrorsely barbellate.
bristles mere nubs or 1–2, to 0.3 mm.
1–2 per spikelet, (2–)2–2.5 mm;
body brown with pale center, lenticular, broadly ellipsoid, 1.5–1.7 × 1.2–1.3 mm, surfaces nearly smooth or very finely cancellate;
tubercle flat, triangular with short-oblong, blunttipped nose, or triangularsubulate, 0.5–0.8 mm.
mostly 2 per spikelet, 1.5–1.6 mm;
body redbrown with pale center, lenticular, broadly obovoid to orbicular, margins pale, narrow, flowing to tubercle;
surfaces smoothish, or faintly cancellate;
tubercle flattened, triangularsubulate, 0.3–0.5 mm.
Rhynchospora wrightiana
Rhynchospora brachychaeta
The morphologic boundary between Rhynchospora wrightiana and R. fascicularis (particularly morphs of R. fascicularis referred to R. fascicularis var. distans) is difficult, as recent annotations of the material testify. It is best to consider R. wrightiana as a lower, distinctly filiformleaved entity with darker brown, shorter spikelets and shorter fruit. Kükenthal’s concept of R. wrightiana appears to include a considerable amount of R. fascicularis var. distans.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Rhynchospora brachychaeta is quite possibly adventive; most of its localities in the flora are in disturbed areas near the coast. It is similar to the widespread native R. chapmanii, from which it is distinguished by its more numerous spikelet clusters, the darker spikelets, the achene faces brown with pale centers (rather than pale with brown ends), and the relatively more developed perianth.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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