About Rhynchospora grayi Kunth
Rhynchospora grayi Kunth grows in clumps, reaches 10 to 100 centimeters in height, and does not produce rhizomes. Its culms are either erect or slightly curved, slender, firm, and three-angled, though the angles are not sharp. Leaves are shorter than the stems; they have narrow, flat bases that become triangular and taper to a sharp point. Leaf blades are 2 to 4 millimeters wide, and either spread outward or grow angled upward along the stem. The inflorescence is made up of 1 to 4 spikelet clusters, which range from loose to dense and are broadly cone-shaped or rounded. These clusters grow on ascending stalks and are often overtopped by leafy bracts. Spikelets are light reddish-brown, ellipsoid or narrowly egg-shaped, 4 to 5 millimeters long, and have sharply pointed tips. Each flower has around six finely barbed bristles that extend from the middle of the fruit to or beyond the tip of the tubercle. Typically, one fruit develops per spikelet. Fruits are dark brown, 2.5 to 3 millimeters long, with a swollen, rounded body and a small, conical tubercle at the top. While the fruit surface may look smooth, it bears fine crosswise ridges or pits. It is one of the few beaksedges that occurs in dry and xeric uplands, a feature that helps with identification. Rhynchospora grayi ranges from southeastern Virginia south to South Florida, and is also found in Cuba. It grows in longleaf pine sandhills, pine rocklands, and other dry sandy sites.
