''Rhynchospora inexpansa'', commonly called nodding beaksedge,
[ is a species of ]flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
in the sedge family ( Cyperaceae). It is native to North America, where it is found in the southeastern United States and West Indies.[ Its typical natural habitat is in moist meadows, flatwoods, and pond edges.][ It is a weedy species that responds positively to ecological disturbance.][
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Description
''Rhynchospora inexpansa'' is a tufted perennial, with flexuous stems that droop at the tip. The cespitose plant reaches in height. The arching and drooping culms are slender and ribbed. The leaves exceed the culms. The ascending or spreading leaf blades are with a trigonous and tapering apex. The inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
s consist of clusters of three to six spikelet
A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the flowers of grasses, sedges and some other Monocots.
Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the spikelet that ...
s progressively spaced further away from each other. The spikelets are narrow and elongated, and the leafy bracts are slender and exceed the clusters. The reddish brown, lanceoloid spikelets are long with acuminate apices. The flowers have six perianth bristles that exceed the tubercle and are antrorsely barbellate. The two to three brown fruits in each spikelet are long with a wavy rugose surface.[
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References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15554554
inexpansa
Flora of North America
Plants described in 1805