Difference between revisions of "Rhynchospora tracyi"

Revision as of 21:07, 16 December 2019

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Plants perennial, clonal, to 120 cm; rhizomes scaly, slender, less than 2 mm thick. Culms erect, leafybased, wandlike, nearly terete, multiribbed. Leaves ascending or erect, longest nearly equaling culm; principal blades linear, involutecylindric, to 3 mm wide, apex tapering, subulate. Inflorescences terminal, heads 1–4, dense, macelike, 1–1.5 mm thick; involucral bracts leafy, proximalmost overtopping inflorescence. Spikelets greenish, lanceovoid, 5–6 mm, apex acuminate; fertile scales boat-shaped, 5 mm, apex acute to shortacuminate, midrib slightly excurrent or not. Flowers: perianth bristles 6, exceeding fruit body, antrorsely barbellate. Fruits 1 per spikelet, 6–8(–8.7) mm; body pale greenbrown, laterally compressed, obcordiform, 2.5–3(–4) mm, margins thick, rounded, not crimped, apex barely exserted, setulose, surfaces nearly plane, minutely cancellate (latticed); tubercle (style base) linear, angled, 4–6 mm, much narrower than fruit summit, setulose.

Phenology: Fruiting late spring–fall.
Habitat: Emergent in shallows of cypress domes, marshes and swales, ditches and ponds
Elevation: 0–100 m

Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex., West Indies, Central America (Belize).

Discussion

Rhynchospora tracyi frequently forms clones extending for acres by means of its long slender rhizomes. Its wandlike, terete, supple culms, and round-capitate clusters of spikelets suggest a rush more than a sedge.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa