| Author | (Baldwin ex Elliott) W.W. Thomas | |
| Distribution | Outer Coastal Plain, plus Bladen and Cumberland counties. The specimen from Dare County was from Roanoke Island. Does not range north of NC.
NC to southern FL to eastern TX; disjunct to central TN. | |
| Abundance | Uncommon in the outer Coastal Plain; rare inland to Bladen and Cumberland counties. It is noticeably less numerous than the other "whitetop sedge" -- R. colorata. | |
| Habitat | Wet pine savannas and flatwoods, seepy margins of pocosins. |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting May-September. | |
| Identification | Except for R. colorata, this species is unmistakable due to its bright white inflorescence bracts. Narrowleaf Whitetop Sedge can be told from Giant Whitetop Sedge by usually having only 3-6 bracts (vs 6-10 in R. latifolia) and the white portion usually only 9-25 mm long (vs. 22-55 mm long). Not all individuals will key cleanly, but this is a taller species -- ranging to 1.5-2 feet tall (as opposed to mostly 1-1.5 feet tall in R. colorata). | |
| Taxonomic Comments | This species was formerly named as Dichromena latifolia.
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) | Sand-swamp Whitetop, Sand-swamp Whitetop Sedge, Broadleaf Whitetop Sedge, and a few others. The website editors prefer to use the name in NatureServe Explorer and a few other websites. | |
| State Rank | S3 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FACW link |
| USACE-emp | | |
