FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Fat seeds are 1.3 to 1.5mm long, ridged, wide, and have short bristles that are usually less than half the length of the seed body. Leaves are quite narrow to only 3 mm wide. Stem length is quite variable but generally less than 0.5 m tall.
Description: A small sedge (to 0.5 m) with clusters of rounded seeds at flowering stem tips and narrow, basal leaves.
Leaves: Fine, grass-like leaves (to 3 mm wide) in basal arrangement; flowering stems longer than leaves.
Flowers/Fruit: Small clusters of rounded seeds at flowering stem tips. Flowers and fruits June to September.
Habit and Range: Pine wetlands, depressions, ditches. Found mainly in the lower Piedmont and Coastal Plain but not the far eastern coastal counties or Outer Banks (rare in the Sandhills and lower Piedmont).
Taxonomic Note: Rhynchospora recognita (cymose beaksedge) was recently split off from Rhynchospora globularis (clustered beaksedge). R. recognita looks similar but grows taller to 1 m tall, and has wider leaves (to 5 mm) and longer seeds (1.4 to 1.8 mm).
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Rhynchospora recognita (cymose beaksedge) looks similar to Rhynchospora globularis (clustered beaksedge) but grows taller to 1 m tall, and has wider leaves (to 5 mm) and longer seeds (1.4 to 1.8 mm). R. recognita is found statewide.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
