Compilation
Xyris macrocephala

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Name

Identification
Xyris macrocephala Vahl [family XYRIDACEAE ] (stored under name); Verified by Not on sheet,
Related name
  • Xyris macrocephala
  • Xyris laxifolia

Flora

Entry for Xyris jupicai Richard [family XYRIDACEAE]
Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 22,
Names
Xyris jupicai Richard [family XYRIDACEAE], Actes de la Societe d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris, 1: 106. 1792
Xyris anceps Persoon [family XYRIDACEAE], 1805,. not Lamarck 1791
Xyris arenicola Miquel [family XYRIDACEAE]
Xyris communis Kunth [family XYRIDACEAE]
Xyris gymnoptera Grisebach [family XYRIDACEAE]
Xyris jupicae Michaux [family XYRIDACEAE]
Xyris jupicai var. brachylepis Malme [family XYRIDACEAE]
Xyris macrocephala f. minor (Martius) M. Kuhlman & Kuhn [family XYRIDACEAE]
Information
Herbs, annual, rarely biennial, cespitose or solitary, 10--100 cm. Stems compact. Leaves erect or ascending in narrow fans, 5--60 cm; sheaths straw-colored, light green, or brown, smooth; blade green, linear, flattened, 2--5(--15) mm wide, smooth, margins smooth or papillate. Inflorescences: scape sheaths exceeded by principal leaves; scapes linear, terete, distally oval, (0.5--)1--1.5(--2) mm wide, smooth, 1--2-ribbed, ribs papillate; spikes ovoid to ellipsoid or cylindro-lanceoloid, 7--15(--25) mm, apex acute; fertile bracts 5--7 mm, margins entire, apex rounded. Flowers: lateral sepals included, slightly curved, 5--7 mm, keel scarious, lacerate, thin; petals unfolding in morning, blade obtriangular, 3 mm; staminodes bearded. Seeds translucent, ellipsoid, 0.4--0.5 mm, faintly ribbed. 2n = 18.
Phenology
Flowering summer--fall (all year south)
Altitude range
0--350 m
Distribution
MexicoWest IndiesCentral AmericaSouth America.USA Ala.USA Ark.USA Del.USA Fla.USA Ga.USA La.USA Md.USA Miss.USA N.J.USA N.C.USA Okla.USA S.C.USA Tenn.USA Tex.USA Va.
Discussion
The widest-ranging of all New World Xyrids and the most ample ecologically, Xyris jupicai is a frequent invader of disturbed or fallow open wetlands within its extensive range. In the southeastern United States it frequently shares habitat with two other species of its complex, namely X. difformis var. difformis and X. laxifolia. It differs from both in its lack of red pigmentation, from X. difformis by its more erect leaves and narrower, less prominently ribbed scapes, and from X. laxifolia by its narrower leaves and scapes, shorter, narrower, paler spikes, and translucent (rather than mealy), shorter seeds. Nonetheless, some difficult "calls" arise since all three flower at the same time and occasional chance hybrids do form.

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