Rhynchospora oligantha A. Gray. Feather-bristled Beaksedge. Phen: May-Aug. Hab: Wet pine savannas, sandhill-pocosin ecotones, sandhill seepage bogs, sea-level fens, usually in rather peaty, acid places. Dist: S. NJ south to ne. FL, Panhandle FL, and west to se. TX; Belize, Nicaragua. Considered to be absent between NC and NJ prior to its discovery in e. VA (Fleming & Ludwig 1996).

ID notes:Rhynchospora oligantha is a densely clumped plant, with dozens of threadlike leaves and several to many lazy, threadlike stems. A look at an achene narrows down the ID choices to just the few species in Rhynchospora Key C -- those feathery achene bristles. In this species the bristles exceed half the length of the achenes and often are as long as the body, versus less than half in R. galeana. The inflorescence is open and composed of a few slender branches, versus densely clustered heads in R. plumosa. Additionally, the leaf tips of R. oligantha are blunt and smooth, while those of the closely related R. galeana are acute and minutely serrulate; these characters are often difficult to determine, however.

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Synonymy: = C, ETx1, FNA23, GW1, K1, K3, K4, RAB, Tat, Tx, Va, WH3, Bridges & Orzell (2000), McMillan (2007); = Rhynchospora oligantha A.Gray var. oligantha – Gale (1944); < Rhynchospora oligantha A.Gray – F, G; < Rynchospora oligantha A.Gray – S, S13

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: OBL
• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: OBL
• Great Plains: OBL

Heliophily: 8