| Author | (C.B. Clarke) Small | |
| Distribution | Mostly just the Sandhills, but disjunct far to the east to Carteret County (Croatan NF).
NC to northern FL and eastern TX; Nicaragua. | |
| Abundance | Rare to locally uncommon in the Sandhills (at least on Fort Bragg). The NCNHP database lists 20 records, most still extant; however, only 5 are considered of good to excellent quality. This is a State Threatened species, most likely owing to a rare global population (G3). | |
| Habitat | Wet blackwater streamheads and ecotones, seepages with pitcher-plants, boggy margins of impoundments and beaver ponds. |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting July-September. | |
| Identification | The bright white heads make this beaksedge stand out. R. alba looks nearly alike, but it has 10-12 bristles per seed (vs. 16-20 bristles); R. pallida has whitish to tan heads and distinctive, enlarged, rather bulbous bases. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
Members of the genus Rhynchospora -- mainly called beaksedges but also called beakrushes -- are mostly Coastal Plain in distribution and are important members of our longleaf pine savannas, flatwoods, streamheads, depression ponds, Carolina bays, and beaver ponds. They vary from small and wiry to large and coarse. Keys concentrate on features of the achenes (seeds) and the shape and arrangement of the flower clusters (spikelets). The seeds may or not have bristles at their base; bristle number, length, and toothing are critical characters. Size and shape of the seed beaks is also critical. The drawings in Godfrey & Wooten (1979) are extremely helpful. The genus now includes Dichromena, the white-topped sedges. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | Southern White Beaksedge | |
| State Rank | S2 | |
| Global Rank | G3G4 | |
| State Status | T | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | OBL link |
| USACE-emp | OBL link |
