Flora of North America species comparison

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Xyris jupicai

Richard's yelloweyed grass
Habit Herbs, annual, rarely biennial, cespitose or solitary, 10–100 cm.
Stems

compact.
Leaves

erect or ascending in narrow fans, 5–60 cm;

sheaths straw-colored, light green, or brown, smooth;

blade green, linear, flattened, 2–5(–15) mm wide, smooth, margins smooth or papillate.
Inflorescences

scape sheaths exceeded by principal leaves;

scapes linear, terete, distally oval, (0.5–)1–1.5(–2) mm wide, smooth, 1–2-ribbed, ribs papillate;

spikes ovoid to ellipsoid or cylindro-lanceoloid, 7–15(–25) mm, apex acute;

fertile bracts 5–7 mm, margins entire, apex rounded.
Flowers

lateral sepals included, slightly curved, 5–7 mm, keel scarious, lacerate, thin;

petals unfolding in morning, blade obtriangular, 3 mm;

staminodes bearded.
Seeds

translucent, ellipsoid, 0.4–0.5 mm, faintly ribbed.
2n

= 18.

Xyris jupicai
Phenology Flowering summer–fall (all year south).
Habitat Moist sands, sandy peats of savannas, flatwoods, swales, shores, ditches, and roadsides, particularly in disturbed situations
Elevation 0–350 m (0–1100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; LA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The widest-ranging of all New World Xyrids and the most ample ecologically, Xyris jupicai is a frequent invader of disturbed or fallow open wetlands within its extensive range. In the southeastern United States it frequently shares habitat with two other species of its complex, namely X. difformis var. difformis and X. laxifolia. It differs from both in its lack of red pigmentation, from X. difformis by its more erect leaves and narrower, less prominently ribbed scapes, and from X. laxifolia by its narrower leaves and scapes, shorter, narrower, paler spikes, and translucent (rather than mealy), shorter seeds. Nonetheless, some difficult "calls" arise since all three flower at the same time and occasional chance hybrids do form.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 22.
Parent taxa Xyridaceae > Xyris
Sibling taxa
X. ambigua, X. baldwiniana, X. brevifolia, X. caroliniana, X. difformis, X. drummondii, X. elliottii, X. fimbriata, X. flabelliformis, X. isoetifolia, X. laxifolia, X. longisepala, X. montana, X. platylepis, X. scabrifolia, X. serotina, X. smalliana, X. stricta, X. tennesseensis, X. torta
Synonyms X. anceps, X. arenicola, X. communis, X. gymnoptera, X. jupicae, X. jupicai var. brachylepis, X. macrocephala
Name authority Richard: Actes de la Societe d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris 1: 106. (1792)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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