Rhynchospora fusca (L.) Ait. f.
Species Image Gallery
(opens in a new window)
 
TAXONOMY
 
Family: Cyperaceae
Genus: Rhynchospora
 
Species Synonyms: none
Common Names: brown beaksedge
sooty beaked-rush
brown beaked-rush
 
DISTRIBUTION
 
Canada: northwestern Saskatchewan, Ontario – New Brunswick – Newfoundland – Nova Scotia
Saskatchewan: northwestern Saskatchewan; Lake Athabasca – Cluff Lake
Ecoregion: Athabasca Plain
 
HABITAT
 
Saskatchewan: sandy and peaty soil near ponds and in bogs
Associated Species: Triglochin maritima, Utricularia cornuta, Utricularia intermedia
 
RARITY STATUS
 
Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):
Endangered
Nature Conservancy Status:
G4G5 S1
Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:
None
COSEWIC Status:
None
 
Rhynchospora fusca is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is rare. This species is regionally restricted and local population sizes vary. No immediate threats are known at the present time.
 
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
 
Height: 10 – 50 cm
Roots: rhizomes stoloniferous, slender
Culms: erect or curved, filiform, terete, leafy
Leaves: ascending, shorter than stem, filiform, < 1.5 mm wide, apex setaceous
Inflorescence: clusters of spikelets 1 or 2, distant, hemispheric to globose; bracts leafy, exceeding inflorescence
Spikelets: scales reddish-brown to deep red, fertile scales often awned
Flowers: perianth bristles 6, shorter than or equal to achene, antrorsely barbellate
Achenes: 2 per spikelet, lenticular, pale to deep brown, margins narrow, lustrous; tubercle trigonous
 
RHYNCHOSPORA KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN
 
1 Spikelets white to whitish-brown; perianth bristles 10 – 12
R. alba
1 Spikelets reddish-brown to dark brown; perianth bristles 6
2
   
2 Clusters of spikelets ovoid; spikelets ascending to erect; plants caespitose
R. capillacea
2 Clusters of spikelets hemispheric to globose; spikelets spreading to erect; plants not caespitose
R. fusca