Contains 59 accepted taxa overall.
Characteristics
Classification
Citation
RHYNCHOSPORA Vahl, Enum. Pl. 2: 229. 1805, as 'Rynchospora'; corr. Willdenow, Enum. Pl. 71. 1809, nom. cons. vs. Dichromena Michaux 1803.
-
TYPE: Rhynchospora alba (Linnaeus) Vahl, typ. cons. (Schoenus albus Linnaeus)
Species
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Herbarium Specimens | Status | Photos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhynchospora alba | Northern White Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora baldwinii | Baldwin's Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora brachychaeta | West Indian Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora caduca | Angle-stem Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora capitellata | Brownish Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora careyana | Carey's Horned Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora cephalantha var. attenuata | Small Bunched Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora cephalantha var. cephalantha | Common Bunched Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora chalarocephala | Loose-headed Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora chapmanii | Chapman's Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora ciliaris | Fringed Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora colorata | Narrowleaf Whitetop Sedge | |||
| Rhynchospora compressa | Flatfruit Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora corniculata | Short-bristled Horned Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora cymosa | Cymose Beakrush | |||
| Rhynchospora debilis | Savanna Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora decurrens | Swamp-forest Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora distans | Narrow-fruited Fascicled Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora divergens | White-seeded Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora elliottii | Elliott's Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora fascicularis | Fascicled Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora filifolia | Threadleaved Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora galeana | Short-bristle Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora globularis | Globe Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora glomerata | Clustered Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora gracilenta | Slender Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora grayi | Gray's Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora harperi | Harper's Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora harveyi | Harvey's Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora inexpansa | Nodding Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora inundata | Narrow-fruit Horned Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora latifolia | Broadleaf Whitetop Sedge | |||
| Rhynchospora leptocarpa | Slender-Fruit Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora macra | Southern White Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora macrostachya | Tall Horned Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora megalocarpa | Sandhill Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora microcarpa | Southern Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora microcephala | Small-headed Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora miliacea | Millet Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora mixta | Mingled Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora nitens | Short-beaked Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora odorata | Fragrant Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora oligantha | Feather-bristled Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora pallida | Pale Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora perplexa | Pineland Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora pinetorum | Small's Beakrush | |||
| Rhynchospora pleiantha | Coastal Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora plumosa | Plumed Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora pusilla | Dwarf Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora rariflora | Few-flower Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora saxicola | Stone Mountain Beakrush; Stone Mountain Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora scirpoides | Long-beak Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora solitaria | Autumn Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora stenophylla | Coastal Bog Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora sulcata | Grooved Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora thornei | Thorne's Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora torreyana | Torrey's Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora tracyi | Tracy's Beaksedge | |||
| Rhynchospora wrightiana | Wright's Beaksedge |
Identification Key
1. Inflorescence bracts involucrate and strikingly white basally (green near the tip), the inflorescence sessile; spikelets pale yellow to white (Dichromena)
1. Inflorescence bracts not involucrate, green, the inflorescence usually diffuse and pedunculate
2
2. Plants to 0.5-2 m tall; leaf blades 1-20 mm wide; style simple or slightly 2-fid; achene tubercle 4-21 mm long (Ceratoschoenus)
2. Plants usually <1.5 m tall; leaf blades mostly 0.1-7 mm wide; style deeply 2-divided; achene tubercle 0.1-2 mm long
3
3. Perianth bristles absent
4
3. Perianth bristles present, sometimes vestigial
5
4. Spikelets 3.5-11 mm long, brown to nearly black, with 8-12(15) scales, 5-10(12) fertile, perianth bristles absent; tubercle broad, the base indented or V-shaped with the sides often decurrent or upcurved; usually annual (Psilocarya)
4. Spikelets 1.5-3 mm long, brown, with 3-8 scales, 1-2(4) fertile; tubercle base mostly subtruncate to slightly decurrent; perennial
5. Perianth bristles plumose (at least at the base)
5. Perianth bristles barbellate or smooth
6
6. Perianth bristles retrorsely barbellate; achene base strongly narrowed and stipe-like (tubercle margins not setulose)
6. Perianth bristles antrorsely barbellate or smooth; achene base usually not stipe-like (if stipe-like, then tubercle margins setulose at the base)
7
7. Achene surface smooth or nearly so, any reticulations or lines faint and scarcely raised or only on part of the body, sometimes the only the middle part of the body smooth
7. Achene surface prominently reticulate or ridged, the lines and ridges distinctly raised throughout the body
1. (Key A, Dichromena) Plant cespitose; proximal floral scales ciliolate on the keel; achene body 0.8-1 mm long
1. Plant rhizomatous; proximal floral scales glabrous; achene body 1-1.5 mm long
2
2. Rhizomes 1-2 mm wide; involucral bracts 3-6(7), 2-7 mm wide, white portion 1-2.5 cm long; achene tubercle base subtruncate
2. Rhizomes 3-4 mm wide; involucral bracts (5)6-8, 5-10 mm wide, white portion 2.2-5.5 cm long; achene tubercle base angled-decurrent
1. (Key B, Ceratoschoenus) Leaf blades 2-4 mm wide; spikelets in globose clusters; tubercle barely exserted; spikelet 5-7 mm long (Polycephalae)
1. Larger spikelet clusters dense or open, hemispheric to turbinate; tubercle tip long exserted; spikelets 9-18 mm long (Longirostres)
2
2. Plant with scaly rhizomes
3
2. Plant without scaly rhizomes
4
3. Rhizomes 3-4 mm wide; longer leafy bracts usually overtopped by inflorescence; achene 2.8-3.5 mm wide, widest above the middle, the perianth bristles subequal to the achene body
3. Rhizomes 1-2 mm wide; longer leafy bracts extending beyond inflorescence; achene 2-3 mm wide, widest near the middle, the perianth bristles ca. 2 times as long as achene body
4. Inflorescence elongate- or spreading-diffuse, with clusters typically of few, spaced spikelets; perianth bristles ca. 1/2 as long as achene body
4. Inflorescence shortly or narrowly compact, with clusters of numerous, densely packed spikelets; perianth bristles ca. 2 times as long as achene body
1. (Key C) Tubercle deltate-lanceolate, as long as or longer than wide, 0.4-0.7 mm long
1. Tubercle broad and low, much wider than long, 0.1-0.3 mm long
2
2. Achene body lacking light-colored bands, the tubercle base upcurved at the sides
2. Achene body with prominent, transvere irregularly undulate light-colored bands, the tubercle bases descending or decurrent at the sides
1. (Key D) Achene body 0.6-0.9 mm long, tubercle 0.1 mm wide and perched atop the achene body, its margins discontinuous
2
1. Achene body 1-1.3 mm long, tubercle 0.2-0.5 mm wide and its margins confluent with the apex of the achene body
3
2. Achene surface reticulate
2. Achene surface with prominent transverse bands
3. Leaf blades 0.4-1 mm wide; achene surface smoothish with a finely reticulate pattern
3. Leaf blades 1-2.5 mm wide; achene surface strongly ridged-reticulate
1. (Key E) Spikelets 1-3(5) per culm, each well separated from adjacent ones
2
1. Spikelets (2)4-30 per culm, in dense clusters
3
2. Spikelet with 3-8 fertile scales; perianth bristles not reaching the middle of the achene body; tubercle merely widest at the base
2. Spikelets with 1-3 fertile scales; perianth bristles exceeding the middle of the achene body; tubercle distinctly flared above the base
3. Spikelets 8-10 mm long; perianth bristles 5-8 mm long
3. Spikelets 2.5-7(8) mm long; perianth bristles 0.3-2.5 mm long
4
4. Leaf blades linear, 1-3 mm wide; spikelets (3.5)4-6 mm long; basal leaf sheaths dark reddish brown
4. Leaf blades filiform, 0.3-0.9(1) mm wide; spikelets 2.5-3.5(4) mm long; basal leaf sheaths dark reddish brown or pale brown
5
5. Basal leaf sheaths dark reddish brown, semi-lustrous; perianth bristles reaching or exceeding the tubercle apex, plumose only at the very base
5. Basal leaf sheaths pale brown, dull; perianth bristles exceeding to not reaching the tubercle apex, plumose throughout the basal half
1. (Key F) Spikelets pale brown; perianth bristles 14-20
1. Spikelets pale brown or dark reddish brown; perianth bristles 6
2
2. Spikelets with (1)2-3(5) fruits (if 1, then the terminal floret sterile)
3
2. Spikelets with 1 fruit (terminating the spikelet)
4
3. Widest glomerule (12)15-21 mm wide; perianth bristles 3-4.7 mm long; fruit (including tubercle) (3)3.2-3.8 mm long, (1)1.1-1.4 mm wide, the achene body with a prominent raised margin
3. Widest glomerule 6.5-14(16) mm wide; perianth bristles 2.9-3.6 mm long; fruit (including tubercle) 2.4-3.0 mm long, 0.7-1.1 mm wide, the achene body margin not prominent or only slightly so
4. Spikelets mostly pale red brown, narrowly ellipsoid to lanceoloid, in turbinate to hemispheric clusters; fruit (including tubercle) (2.5)2.7–3.3(3.5) mm long; tubercle 0.2-0.4 mm wide at base
4. Spikelets dark red brown, broadly lanceoloid, in dense, mostly globose clusters; fruit (including tubercle) 2.5–4.5 mm long; tubercle 0.4-0.8 mm wide at base
5
5. Glomerules mostly 1–2 cm wide; fruit (including tubercle) 3.5–4(4.2) mm long, achene body 1-1.5(2) mm wide
5. Glomerules mostly 0.5–1 cm wide; fruit (including tubercle) 2.5–3 mm long, achene body 0.9–1.1 mm wide
1. (Key G) Tubercle margins (and often pedicellar joint and perianth bristle bases) setulose or ciliate; most perianth bristles exceeding the achene body and often reaching or exceeding the tubercle
2
1. Tubercle margins (and pedicellar joint, the perianth bristle bases) smooth or not setulose (if somewhat setulose, then perianth bristles shorter than to reaching the achene body apex)
6
2. Leaf blades (1.5)2-4(5) mm wide; achene base narrowly cuneate-stipitate
2. Leaf blades 0.4-2 mm wide; achene base rounded, truncate, to cuneate, not stipitate or scarcely so
3
3. Achene narrowly obovate, 1.8-2.2 times as long as wide
3. Achene ovate to obovate, 1.2-1.5 times as long as wide
4
4. Spikelets 2.5-4 mm long
4. Spikelets (4.5)5-7 mm long
3
5. Rhizomes or stolons absent; plant 10-40(50) cm tall
5. Rhizomatous or stoloniferous; plant 40-70 cm tall
6. Leaf blades 3-7 mm wide; spikelets 4-8 mm long
7
6. Leaf blades 0.2-3(4) mm wide
9
7. Spikelets 4-8(9) mm long; achene body 2.8-4 mm long, dark brown-purple to black
7. Spikelets 4-6 mm long; achene body 1.5-2.5 mm long, brown to dark brown
8
8. Culms triquetrous, scabrid; perianth bristles 12
8. Culms terete or obscurely trigonous, papillose to scabrid-puberulent; perianth bristles 6
9. Fruit (including tubercle) 1-1.6 mm long
10
9. Fruit (including tubercle) (1.5)1.7-3.5(4.1) mm long
11
10. Perianth bristles not extending beyond the middle of the achene
10. Perianth bristles extending past the middle of the achene, some reaching the apex
11. Tubercle 1.2-2 mm long, gradually narrowed, 0.8-1.2 times as long as the achene body, perianth bristles reaching just below tubercle apex to exceeding it
11. Tubercle 0.5-0.9 mm long, often indented or abruptly narrowed, 0.3-0.6 times as long as the achene body, the perianth bristles not reaching tubercle base to reaching just the middle
12
12. Leaves (1)1.5-3(4) mm wide
12. Leaves 0.2-1.5(2.5) mm wide
13
13. Fruit tubercle flat, sometimes apiculate; perianth none or more often vestigial, no bristles reaching beyond midbody of fruit
13. Fruit tubercle tip subulate or blunt; perianth bristles no shorter than apex of fruit body
1. (Key H) Leaf blades 0.2-0.5 mm wide
2
1. Leaf blades 1-7(10) mm wide
4
2. Fruit (including tubercle) 0.9-1 mm long, with a distinct flattened margin, the transverse ridges scarcely if at all more prominent than the vertical ones
2. Fruit (including tubercle) 1.8-3 mm long, the margin indistinct, the transverse ridges much more prominent than the vertical ones
3
3. Spikelets 3-4(4.5) mm long, with 2-4 fruits or with 1 fruit and a sterile terminal floret; perianth bristles not reaching achene middle or rarely so; tubercle 0.3-0.6 mm long
3. Spikelets 4.5-5.2 mm long, with 1 fruit (terminal) per spikelet; perianth bristles reaching or extending past the tubercle base; tubercle 0.8-1.5 mm long
4. Fruit 2-3.2 mm long
5
4. Fruit (including tubercle) 1-2(2.1) mm long
12
5. Achene 1.8-2.7 times as long as wide
5. Achene body 0.9-1.4 times as long as wide
6
6. Spikelets 5-8(9) mm long; achene pale yellow-brown; rhizomatous
6. Spikelets (3)4-5(6) mm long; achene brown to very dark brown; mostly cespitose, or rhizomatous in R. caduca
7
7. Achene strongly compressed, faces nearly flat
8
7. Achene rounded, faces convex
9
8. Perianth bristles extending slightly past the achene mid-body or less; tubercle conic, flared at the base into a distinct bulging rim
8. Perianth bristles reaching tubercle base or beyond; tubercle somewhat compressed, gradually narrowed to the sometimes slightly bulging rim
9. Rhizomatous; tubercle uniform throughout, without a distinct base
9. Cespitose; tubercle base with a distinct rim different in color and texture from the rest of the tubercle
10
10. Fruit 2.5–3 mm; spikelets 4–5.5 mm; perianth reaching past fruit midbody
10. Fruit 2–2.5 mm; spikelets 2.5–4 mm; perianth not reaching past fruit mid-body
11
11. Terminal spikelet clusters on stiffish branchlets, usually dense and exceeded at least by subulate tips of subtending leafy bract and bractlets; achene body broadly obovoid to suborbicular, medially with mostly isodiametric tiny alveoli or pits, or minutely raised reticulate in an almost honeycomb pattern of alveolae, or evenly finely cancellate
11. Terminal spikelet clusters on more slender, lax, erect to excurved branches and exceeding subtending bracts and bractlets; achene body obovoid, lenticular, medially with oblong or roundish pitlike alveoli, intervals between contiguous transverse rows forming shallow, broad, pale, smooth ridges
12. Plant with stout, elongate rhizomes, 1.5-4 mm thick, 4-30 cm long; inflorescence branches nearly perpendicular to main axis, each spikelet on an elongate, filiform peduncle
12. Plant cespitose; inflorescence branches mostly ascending to erect, sometimes spreading-ascending, the spikelets clustered together on short peduncles
13
13. Tubercle conic, the base flared with a distinct rim discontinuous from the achene body, the achene body tip narrower than the tubercle rim
14
13. Tubercle somewhat flat, the base distinct but its margins continuous with the achene body
15
14. Spikelets broadly ovoid to subglobose; achene body distinctly transversely wavy-rugose, intervals composed of irregular rows of vertical, rectangular alveolae
14. Spikelets ovoid; achene body subtly transversely wavy rugose, mostly with transverse, undulate rows of subisodiametric to very broadly rectangular lattices or alveolae
15. Perianth bristles 0-3, scarcely reaching the middle of the achene
15. Perianth bristles 6, extending past the middle of the achene to past the tubercle tip
16
16. Tubercle base downcurved, the margin somewhat decurrent with the achene body
16. Tubercle base mostly straight, horizontal
17
17. Tubercle moderately to densely setulose
17. Tubercle margin smooth, papillate, to sparsely ciliolate
18
18. Achene faces mostly flat
18. Achene faces convex, sometimes somewhat flattened
19
19. Inflorescence comprising 0.6-0.8 of the culm length; spikelets 1.5-1.9 mm long; achene 0.7-1 mm long
19. Inflorescence comprising 0.1-0.4(0.5) of the culm length; spikelets 2-3 mm long; achene 1-1.2 mm long
20
20. Plants slender, mostly less than 1 meter tall, with leaves typically <40 cm long and <3 mm wide; inflorescence cluster branches ascending, the clusters mostly tightly congested; perianth bristles subequal, 0.5-1.5 times as long as the achene body; achene 1.0–1.7 times as long as wide, dark brown, shallowly nearly horizontally ridged or with nearly isodiametric alveolae, ridges 7–9
20. Plants robust, taller culms 1.2-1.4(1.7) m tall, with leaves (11)40-60(88) cm long and (2)3-5(7) mm wide; Inflorescence cluster branches widely spreading in flower, spreading to ascending in fruit, the clusters rather open, not congested; perianth bristles unequal, 0.9–1.5 times as long as the achene body; achene 1.0–1.2 times as long as wide, light brown, strongly transversely ridged with 6–8 irregular ridges and narrow rectangular alveolae
Genus Synonyms
| Synonym | Full Citation | Basionym | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| No synonyms found. | |||