This page provides a list of all Arkansas Fimbristylis, Fuirena, Isolepis, Kyllinga, and Lipocarpa sedges. I am adding brief hints for the field identification of each taxon. Taxonomic problems (what belongs where for Arkansas material I've reviewed or not reviewed) have yet to be settled on these genera in Arkansas. I have yet to reconcile taxonomy with the Arkansas Flora Committee list. So much to do, so little time!
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Arkansas' Fimbristylis make up an interesting group. The six taxa from distinctive species easily recognized once they are learned. How so? See the descriptions below. Using a key to find out which sedges belong to the genus only frustrates the collector. Tis much easier just to learn the look of each species and then you can quickly identify it to species in the field eliminating the need for seeking obscure characters. The following discussion provides some much needed details. For Fimbristylis one can eliminate sedges that are over 2-3 feet tall since none of these species grow that tall. Plants with wide leaves, over 5-10 mm, will also not be Fimbristylis in Arkansas. Most thrive with some sort of disturbance. F. vahlii, for example, stabilizes sand bars of rivers and streams, inhabits impoundment shores, and such. F. puberula locks in on streamside habitats as well, often thriving in Ozarkian streams on gravelly sites where the movement of gravel pummels and tears at other species while this one sinks its roots deep making them difficult to collect amounst the rocks. Other species prefer ruderally disturbed sites such as roadsides. Some can be found in sandy openings where little else survives the droughty conditions, although this is not truely a disturbed habitat.
The University of Tennessee Herbarium (TENN) has many nice photos on line of most of these species and many other Arkansas species.
Fimbristylis annua occurs in known locations of fewer than 10 Arkansas counties. That's not to say it is not possible to it statewide. Superficially, this taxon resembles F. autumnalis.
Fimbristylis autumnalis is expected in all Arkansas counties. This common fall blooming ruderal species forms with pointed spikelets. This character makes this species stick out from many other sedges as does its small size and fall blooming habit. Find a pic on the internet, and you'll see that little else looks like it. The preferred habitat could be described as sidewalks but this ruderal species is often found in other disturbed wetland habitats. How can sidewalks be considered a wetland habitat? This species thrives in areas where leaky faucets, air conditioner produced seeps, and other town created wetlands exist. You won't find F. puberula here and F. vahlii also likes more natural sites. But don't forget that F. autumnalis also likes mudflats. Roadside ditches, drawn down impoundments, and pond edges all provide sites for this species to thrive.
Fimbristylis miliacea commonly grows in south Arkansas, absent in most of the north half of the state. But I wonder. Should it be in northern Arkansas? Perhaps more diligent searches will reveal the answer. A comparison with its Missouri (and more northern) distribution might be enlightening. This unusual sedge sports rounded spikelets, unlike the pointed spikelets of F. autumnalis. This character, once recognized, makes the taxon unmisteakable in the field, despite my preference for mispelling some words. Its not that I can't spell. Its just that I prefer to lead the planet with new and creative word spellings. I'm not ignorant, just ahead of my time.
This curious taxon occurs scattered, but widespread in about 15 Arkansas counties. Perhaps Arkansas' largest Fimbristylis this taxon inhabits fairly natural streamside habitat.
Smith (1988) reports for Logan and six SE Arkansas counties. Photos I've seen show it resembles F. autumnalis superficially.
Common in south Arkansas; absent in most of the Ozarks. This is a very fine leaved species found along rivers and drawn down lakes, and similar habitats. The species can be confusing at first as the tiny flower parts cooperate poorly under the microscope making the plant frustrating to those who like large flowering structures for plant ID.
Fuirena pops up in wetland edges in Arkansas, inhabiting Ozarkian and Ouachitan small to large stream as well as riverine habitat, especially in sunny sites. The species frustrate the beginning botanist because the inflorescence structures take on curious and unique shapes. The beginner finds them confounding because one has to learn new termnology for the genus and apply existing terms to unusual shapes. Who would have thought petals could look like minature shovels with toothed handles? Nevertheless, Fuirena species will delight the botanist as the shapes one sees in the scope fascinate. I would love to post pics or drawings, but long ago decided other websites will take care of that chore. My job is to document the Arkansas taxa and aide you in knowing which Arkansas species grow where. I try to nail down the easy characters that separate species, characters that don't fit well in keys and typical botanical documentation. If a species jumps out as unique, why wade through pages and pages of text to identify it?
Central and south central Arkansas, Smith (pers. commun. 1993) reports for eight counties. I don't have the key characters in hand to describe species differences so will leave that work for later.
Union County (Smith 1988). Based on my knowledge of the Cyperaceae and the plants.usda.gov website, the distribution of F. pumila and other taxa in the genus need considerable work to determine the true distribution. Like many sedges, this one gets overlooked, I suspect. I believe botanists tend to overlook this genus and species because the identification of sedges simply takes too much time for the underinitiated. One would think this might be a coastal plain species based solely on its Arkansas distribution in Union County. But it occurs at a few locations in southern Indiana and Illinois, along with scattered locations around the Great Lake states. In reality, it likely occurs in Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee even though the "plants" database mentioned above fails show it there. This makes me wonder why few Arkansas locations exist, perhaps only one. I feel certain this happens because botanists have not looked hard and long enough for it, myself included.
Not in Arkansas (Smith 1988).
Common in at least north central Arkansas. The Arkansas distribution incidates I've found it there and someone has found it in Little River and Miller counties. Because I've done more sedge work in and around Baxter County, I suspect the plant is just undercollected at least in the Ozarks and (perhaps in the Ouachitas where no known county records exist). The plants confused the novice when compared to the superficially similar F. squarrosa
This more southern taxon inhabits the West Gulf Coastal Plain and is probably much more common than records indicate.
The two species of Isolepis occurring in Arkansas were treated as belonging to the genus Scirpus previously (E. B. Smith 1994, Yatskeivych 1999). See Yatskeivych (ibid) for details on the use of this genus. While most keys concentrate on technical characters they fail to mention these annoying little plants are seldom more than 20 (-30) cm tall, and the fact they seem to thrive in disturbed habitats. Any small, fine leaved sedge on wet, sandy mud may be one of these species. Small sedges with wider leaves might be Kyllinga species. The Arkansas habitats for these species have yet to be reviewed, aside from the obvious finds in artificially disturbed wetlands such as roadsides and construction sites, or in naturally disturbed wetlands such as beaver dams with broken dams.
Keys based on E. B. Smith (1994), Diggs, Lipscomb, and O/Kennon (1999), and Yatskievych (1999). These keys have yet to be tested by the author on Arkansas material. See Smith (1994) for an additional character.
1. Scales from middle of the spikelets 1.7-2.0 mm long; achenes 1.0-1.5 mm long; spikelets (7-) 10-14 flowered; achenes orangish brown to brown, lacking a white, waxy coating .......... Isolepis carinata
1. Scales from middle of the spikelets 1.0-1.2 mm long; achenes 0.7-0.9 mm long; spikelets (10) 20-30 flowered; achenes orangish brown to brown, lacking a white, waxy coating .......... Isolepis molesta
A synonym for the above taxon, Scirpus koilolepis (Steud.) Gleason. Both Yatskievych (1999) and Diggs, et al. (1999) note that both Arkansas species of Isolepis grow together, but are completely separable from each other. This plant occurs widely (40 Arkansas counties) in the West Gulf Coastal Plain and Mississippi Alluvial Plain, but is poorly represented in collections in the Ozarks, Ouachitas, and extreme eastern Arkansas north of Desha, Arkansas, and Prairie counties.
A synonym for the above taxon is Scirpus molestus M. C. Johnst. Sometimes found in mixed collections with S. carinata in similar wetland habitat (drying wetland muck), or on sandstone glades or sandy soils. Found from Lafa, Loga, Ston, Unio, and VanB counties.
Kyllinga gracillima Miq. may be the correct name for Kyllinga brevifolioides (Thieret & Delahoussaye) Tucker. Smith (1988) reports Sundells collection at UAM from "near Hot Springs" in Garland County. Hyatt thought he found this in Dallas County, but has come to question his identification of the specimen and 13 duplicates. This needs further review.
Smith records a specimen from Drew County (pers. commun. 1993).
Its everywhere!
Yatskievych (1999) reports this species through southern Missouri, and two additional species of this genus in Missouri counties bordering Arkansas, especially northwest Arkansas.
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