Rhynchospora grayi

Kunth

Enum. Pl. 2: 539. 1837.

Illustrated
Basionym: Rhynchospora distans Elliott 1816 Rhynchospora elliottii A. Gray 1835
Synonyms: Phaeocephalum grayi (Kunth) House Schoenus distans Muhlenberg Schoenus fuscus Muhlenberg
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 23. Treatment on page 230. Mentioned on page 206, 231.
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Plants perennial, cespitose, 10–100 cm; rhizomes absent. Culms erect or excurved, leafy, obscurely trigonous, slender, firm. Leaves shorter than culms; blades spreading to ascending, linear, proximally flat, 2–4 mm wide, apex involute, then trigonous, subulate. Inflorescences: spikelet clusters 1–4, loose to dense, broadly turbinate, lobed or hemispheric; peduncles and branches ascending; leafy bracts exceeding proximal, sometimes distal, clusters. Spikelets light redbrown, ellipsoid or narrowly ovoid, 4–5 mm, apex acute to acuminate; fertile scales broadly ovate, 3.5–4.5 mm, apex acute or acuminate, apiculate. Flowers: perianth bristles mostly 6, reaching from fruit midbody to tubercle tip or beyond, antrorsely barbellate. Fruits 1(–2) per spikelet, 2.5–3 mm; body dark brown, broadly, tumidly obovoid, 2–2.5 × 2–2.5 mm, apically buttressed to tubercle; surfaces finely transversely rugulose or nearly level, with fine transverse rows of pits or low papillae, often appearing nearly smooth; tubercle lowconic, 0.4–0.6 mm, apiculate.


Phenology: Fruiting spring–summer.
Habitat: Sandy pinelands and sandhills, particularly in longleaf pine type
Elevation: 0–300 m

Distribution

V23 407-distribution-map.jpg

Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex., Va., West Indies.

Discussion

Of all North American species of Rhynchospora, R. grayi appears best adapted to the xeric conditions found in the coarser sands of the longleaf pine-scrub oak–dominated yellow sandhills. Interestingly, it seems seldom to mix with its closest relative, R. megalocarpa, which is more often found in white sandhills.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Rhynchospora grayi"
Robert Kral +
Rhynchospora distans +  and Rhynchospora elliottii +
Ala. +, Fla. +, Ga. +, La. +, Miss. +, N.C. +, S.C. +, Tex. +, Va. +  and West Indies. +
0–300 m +
Sandy pinelands and sandhills, particularly in longleaf pine type +
Fruiting spring–summer. +
Illustrated +
Phaeocephalum grayi +, Schoenus distans +  and Schoenus fuscus +
Rhynchospora grayi +
Rhynchospora +
species +