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| Rhynchospora alba (L.) Vahl | Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| TAXONOMY | |||||||||||||||
| Family: | Cyperaceae | ||||||||||||||
| Genus: | Rhynchospora | ||||||||||||||
| Species Synonyms: | Rhynchospora luquillensis Britt. | ||||||||||||||
| Common Names: | white beaksedge white beaked-rush |
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| DISTRIBUTION | |||||||||||||||
| Canada: | western British Columbia, southern Mackenzie District – Saskatchewan, Ontario – Quebec – Labrador – Nova Scotia | ||||||||||||||
| Saskatchewan: | northern to central Saskatchewan; Lake Athabasca – Nipawin | ||||||||||||||
| Ecoregion: | Boreal Transition, Mid-Boreal Upland, Churchill River Upland, Athabasca Plain | ||||||||||||||
| HABITAT | |||||||||||||||
| Saskatchewan: | shore fens and treed bogs | ||||||||||||||
| Associated Species: | Carex lasiocarpa, Carex limosa, Carex livida, Carex michauxiana, Drosera anglica, Drosera rotundifolia, Eleocharis quinqueflora, Juncus brevicaudatus, Juncus stygius, Picea mariana, Rhynchospora fusca, Trichophorum caespitosum, Triglochin maritima | ||||||||||||||
| RARITY STATUS | |||||||||||||||
| Provincial
Status According to Harms (2003): |
Vulnerable |
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| Nature Conservancy Status: | G5 S2S3 |
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| Saskatchewan
Species at Risk Status: |
None |
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| COSEWIC Status: | None |
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| Rhynchospora alba is vulnerable in Saskatchewan. This species is apparently secure, with numerous known localities, but still seems to be less common than other species. No immediate threats are known for this species. | |||||||||||||||
| SPECIES DESCRIPTION | |||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 – 75 cm | ||||||||||||||
| Roots: | rhizomes mostly absent; roots fibrous | ||||||||||||||
| Culms: | perennial, densely caespitose, erect to curved, obscurely trigonous to terete, slender, few-ribbed | ||||||||||||||
| Leaves: | mostly taller than culm, to 2.5 mm long, trigonous, narrowly linear to filiform, apex tapering | ||||||||||||||
| Inflorescence: | clusters of spikelets 1 – 3, terminal, long-peduncled, axillary, widely spaced, 1.5 – 2.5 cm wide, hemispheric; leafy bracts shorter than terminal cluster | ||||||||||||||
| Spikelets: | 3.5 – 5.5 mm long, ellipsoid; scales elliptic, midrib extending as a mucro, milky white to whitish-brown | ||||||||||||||
| Flowers: | perianth bristles 10 – 12, slightly longer than achene, barbellate, minutely hairy at base | ||||||||||||||
| Achenes: | 1 – 2 per spikelet, stipitate, lenticular, relatively smooth, confluent with tubercle, brownish-green with faint transverse brown lines, centre lighter | ||||||||||||||
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