| Author | Chapman | |
| Distribution | Mostly the Sandhills; locally in the Coastal Plain east to Carteret County, Though there is a 2001 record for southeastern VA (the only state record), it is genuinely very rare to absent in the NC central and northern counties.
Coastal Plain, southeastern VA to northern FL and Southern MS. | |
| Abundance | Uncommon to locally frequent in the Sandhills (occurs mostly on Fort Bragg). Rare to farther eastward. Plants tend to form tussocks or patches of many leaves and culms. This is a Watch List species. | |
| Habitat | Seepage slopes, pitcher-plant bogs, blackwater streamhead ecotones. |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting July-September. | |
| Identification | Plants tend to form tussocks or patches of extraordinarily skinny and long leaves and culms (2-3 feet tall or long), all of which are lazy or lying prostrate. It closely resembles R. rariflora, but differs in having bristles longer than the seed beak, versus no longer than the seed body in that species. | |
| 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) | Coastal Bog Beaksedge, Chapman's Beaksedge | |
| State Rank | S3 [S2S3] | |
| Global Rank | G4 | |
| State Status | W1 | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | OBL link |
| USACE-emp | FACW link |
