Bulbostylis capillaris (Linnaeus) Kunth ex C.B. Clarke ssp. capillaris . Common Hairsedge. Phen: Jul-Oct. Hab: Thin soils on rock outcrops, especially granite domes and granite flatrocks (but also on mafic rocks, such as diabase), sandy soils, fields, bogs (in FL). Dist: ME to MN, south to Panhandle FL and TX, and west to AZ and CA, also in Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and s. Asia.

ID notes: Bulbostylis capillaris ssp. capillaris is a short plant (up to 3 dm tall, but usually half that) in dense tufts of many filiform (very slender, threadlike) stems, each stem topped by a small inflorescence of tiny spikelets. Achene (seed) surfaces have narrow transverse ridges, versus. tiny bumps in B. ciliata and B. coarctata.

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Taxonomy Comments: Ssp. insulana M.T. Strong is endemic to the Greater Antilles.

Other Comments: This species frequently has a mixture of long and very short culms, the short culms only a few cm long and thus nearly hidden amongst the leaves.

Synonymy ⓘ: = K1, K3, K4; < Bulbostylis capillaris (L.) Kunth ex C.B.Clarke – Ar, C, ETx1, FNA23, G, GrPl, GW1, Il, Mex, Mi, Mo1, NcTx, NE, NY, Pa, RAB, Tn, Tx, Va, W, WH3, Kral (1971); > Bulbostylis capillaris (L.) Kunth ex C.B.Clarke var. capillaris – F, Tat; > Bulbostylis capillaris (L.) Kunth ex C.B.Clarke var. crebra Fernald – F, Tat; > Bulbostylis capillaris (L.) Kunth ex C.B.Clarke var. isopoda Fernald – F, Tat; < Stenophyllus capillaris (L.) Britton – S, S13

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FAC (name change)
• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACU (name change)
• Great Plains: FACU (name change)
• Midwest: FACU (name change)
• Northcentral & Northeast: FACU (name change)

Heliophily ⓘ: 9