Rhynchospora megaplumosa

Manatee beaksedge
Conservation status
Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Cyperaceae
Genus:	Rhynchospora
Species:	R. megaplumosa
Binomial name
Rhynchospora megaplumosa E.L.Bridges & S.L.Orzell

Rhynchospora megaplumosa, the Manatee beaksedge, ^[2] is a plant species endemic to a small region in central Florida. It is known from only 4 Counties: Polk, Hillsboro, Manatee and Sarasota. It generally grows on sandy soil in pine woodlands. ^{[3] [4]}

Rhynchospora megaplumosa is a perennial herb up to 90 cm tall, often forming clumps. Culms are round in cross-section. Spikelets are densely crowded together, tapering at both ends, light brown, about 9 mm long, with bristles nearly twice as long as the fruit, sticking out of the spikelet and giving a feathery appearance. ^{[3] [5] [6] [7]}

References

1. "Rhynchospora megaplumosa". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
2. NRCS. "Rhynchospora megaplumosa". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 22 October 2015.
3. Flora of North America v 23 p 218. Rhynchospora megaplumosa
4. BONAP (Biota of North America Project) floristic synthesis,Rhynchospora megaplumosa
5. Bridges, Edwin L. & Orzell, Steve L. 2000. Lundellia 3: 20–25, f. 1.
6. Kral, R. 1996. Supplemental notes on Rhynchospora crinipes and related species in sect. Fuscae (Cyperaceae). Sida 17: 385–411.
7. Kükenthal, G. 1949–1951. Vorarbeiten zu einer Monographie der Rhynchosporoideae 18. Rhynchospora Vahl. Botanische Jahrbuch der Systematik 74: 375–509; 75: 90–115, 273–314, 451–497.