East Central Florida CISMA Fall Meeting October 27, 2020. Zoom Meeting

AN OVERVIEW OF THE SEDGE FAMILY IN FLORIDA

Presented by: Daniel Young [email protected] Young Bear Environmental Consulting GRAMINOIDS

3 FAMILIES: • GRASSES – POACEAE • RUSHES – JUNCACEAE • SEDGES – POACEAE

• FLOWER: Modified floret in a • FRUIT: Grain • : Blade, Ligule, Sheath JUNCACEAE • FLOWER: 3-flowered, small, 6 tepals, 2 rows • FRUIT: trilocular, dehiscent capsule w many seeds. • LEAVES: in basal tuft; flat or terete (round) JUNCACEAE

Juncus repens (flat) Juncus effusus (terete) CYPERACEAE - SEDGES

• Flower: reduced (perfect or imperfect) • Grouped in subtended by scale • Inflorescence often subtended by • Anemophilous (wind-pollinated) • Water & animal dispersed CYPERACEAE - SEDGES

• Sedge flowers are subtended by a ______and are grouped into a structure called a ______

• Answer Choices: Bract Inflorescence Scale Tepal Spikelet Ligule CYPERACEAE - SEDGES • FRUIT: Achene (lenticular or trigonous) SEDGE FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS

• Triangular in X.S. “sedges have edges” • Leaves 3-ranked SEDGE FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS • Leaves 3-ranked, closed basal sheath (vs. grasses) • Contraligule – opposite side of extension • In some no blades SEDGE FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS

• Solid internodes (vs. grasses) • Perennial • Rhizomatous, caespitose (clumped) • Generally like wetter, nutrient poor soils Cyperus

Eleocharis confervoides 17 Genera; 282 Taxa Native: 241 Non-Native: 41 • FLEPPC Listed: 4 Species • EPPC I Species: Scleria lacustris WRIGHT'S NUTRUSH

Scleria microcarpa TROPICAL NUTRUSH

• EPPC II Species: Cyperus involucratus UMBRELLA Cyperus prolifer DWARF PAPYRUS; MINIATURE FLATSEDGE Easy Genera To Recognize

• Carex • Scleria • Cyperus • • Rhynchospora Carex

– Perigynium – Flowers imperfect (male above, female below) Scleria – whitenut sedge

– Exposed white nutlet (achene) – Common in drier habitats (despite being primarily listed as FACW) – Tend to be leafy – Strongly 3 angled Cyperus - flatsedge

– Flattened spikelets Eleocharis - spikerush – Unbranched scape – Bladeless leaf, sheath only – Single spike, no subtending bract – Spikes wider or equivalent to scape Eleocharis - spikerush – Rhizomatous – Some are viviparous Eleocharis

– Typical habit - mats or emergent – Almost terete in X.S. Rhynchospora - beaksedge – Mostly clump forming, some rhizomatous – Scales spirally imbricate, 1-2 flowered – Inflorescence subtended by foliar bract Rhynchospora - beaksedge

– Achene with prominent beak (not the only genus though) – Achene with few to many prominent bristles Resources

• Godfrey & Wooten – Aquatic and Wetland of SE • Wunderlin – Guide to Vascular Plants of FL • ISB Atlas - http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu • Facebook Groups – Weakley’s Flora of SE US & FL Flora and Ecoystematics • Weakley – Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlanctic States http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm