Fernald's Beak Sedge

Plants perennial, cespitose, 15–50 cm; rhizomes absent. Culms erect or ascending, slender, leafy proximal to middle, somewhat stiff. Leaves overtopped by culm; blades ascending, ± filiform, proximally flat or slightly concave, to 1 mm wide, apex narrowing, trigonous, abruptly blunt. Inflorescences: spikelet clusters 1–2, if 2 then close together, dense, broadly turbinate to hemispheric or even globose; primary leafy bract setaceous, exceeding clusters. Spikelets red brown, ovoid, 2–2.5(–4) mm, apex acute; fertile scales broadly ovate, 1.5–1.9(–2) mm, apex acute to acuminate, midrib excurrent as awn to 0.5 mm. Flowers: bristles 6, some reaching to apex of fruit body. Fruits 2–3 per spikelet, 1–1.2(–1.4) mm; body dull dark brown with paler brown center, lenticular, broadly obovoid to broadly ellipsoid, 1 × 0.8 mm, margins narrow, flowing to tubercle; tubercle nearly equilaterally triangular, 0.2–0.3 mm.

Ala., Fla., Ga., Miss.

Fruiting summer–fall.

Sands and peats of low clearings in flatwoods, savannas, and bog edges; 0–100m.

Rhynchospora fascicularis (Michaux) Vahl var. fernaldii (Gale) Kükenthal