Rhynchospora capillacea Torr.

Needle beaksedge (en), Rhynchospore capillaire (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Poales > Cyperaceae > Rhynchospora

Characteristics

Plants perennial, cespitose, 10–40 cm, wiry; rhizomes stoloniferous, slender, to 1.5 mm thick. Culms erect or curved, leafy, filiform, angularly few ribbed. Leaves ascending-excurved, overtopped by culm; blades filiform, involute, apex setaceous. Inflorescences: spikelet clusters 1–2(–3), often sparse, ellipsoid or narrowly turbinate, less than 1 cm wide; subtending foliaceous bracts exceeding compounds. Spikelets erect or ascending, pale red brown to brown, fusiform, 6–7 mm; fertile scales elliptic, 4 mm, apex rounded or acute, midrib short excurrent or not. Flowers: perianth bristles 6, overtopping tubercle base, mostly retrorsely barbellate, sometimes smooth [forma laeviseta (E. J. Hill) Fernald]. Fruits 1–4(–5) per spikelet, 2.5–3 mm; body pale brown, slender stipitate, ellipsoid, lenticular, 1.5–2 × 0.8–1 mm; surfaces longitudinally minutely striate, obscurely transversely low rugose, dotted; tubercle narrowly triangular subulate, flattened, 0.8–1.7 mm.
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Cespitose; lvs involute, filiform, 0.2–0.4 mm wide; glomerules 1 or commonly 2, the terminal ovoid or oblong, with 2–10 erect or ascending spikelets, the lateral remote, subsessile, with 1–4 spikelets; bristles 6, retrorsely barbellate or seldom smooth, surpassing the achene; achenes elliptic-oblong to narrowly elliptic-obovate, 1.7–2.1 mm, scarcely (or less than) half as wide, conspicuously narrowed toward the base, pale (and often obscurely darker-lined) centrally, darker toward the margins; tubercle subulate-attenuate, 0.8–1.6 mm; 2n=26. Calcareous swamps, bogs, and shores; Nf. to Sask., s. to Va., Tenn., and Mo.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
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Mature height (meter) 0.1 - 0.4
Root system rhizome
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Environment

Light -
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Hardiness (USDA) 4-9

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
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Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

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Images

Rhynchospora capillacea unspecified picture

Distribution

Rhynchospora capillacea world distribution map, present in Åland Islands, Canada, Micronesia (Federated States of), Malaysia, and United States of America

Conservation status

Rhynchospora capillacea threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:312054-1
WFO ID wfo-0000514596
COL ID 4SSXJ
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Rhynchospora capillacea Schoenus setaceus Rhynchospora capillacea f. leviseta Rhynchospora capillacea f. capillacea Triodon capillaceus Phaeocephalum capillaceum Rhynchospora setacea Phaeocephalum capillaceum var. levisetum Rhynchospora capillacea var. leviseta