Rhynchospora careyana Fernald. Broadfruit Horned Beaksedge. Phen: Jul-Sep. Hab: Limesink (doline) depression ponds and in intermittently flooded depression meadows, mucky pondshores. Also sometimes in cypress/gum swamps and lightly disturbed ditches. Dist: Apparently ranging from se. NC south to FL, west to w. LA; disjunct in DE; Cuba, Jamaica.

ID notes: This is one of our most robust beaksedges, in favorable years (i.e., high water) culms grow 1-1.5 m tall and leaves ca. 1 m long. It grows from long horizontal rhizomes, thus forming loose colonies. The inflorescence is very broad and very open; spikelets are orange-brownish and with a long beak. R. inundata can be told with certainty by its much longer seed bristles (extending twice the length of the seed body vs. generally the same length as the body in R. careyana).

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Synonymy ⓘ: = FNA23, K1, K3, K4, McMillan (2007); = n/a – C, S13, Tat; = Rynchospora careyana – S; < Rhynchospora corniculata (Lam.) A.Gray – GW1; < Rhynchospora inundata (Oakes) Fernald – RAB, WH3

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: OBL
• Northcentral & Northeast: OBL

Heliophily ⓘ: 9