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Rhynchospora latifolia
Giant Whitetop
Sandswamp Whitetop
Star Rush
Florida native
A frequent sedge of marshes, bigs and wet flatwoods throughout much of Florida, although absent from the Big Bend area. The range includes the southeastern coastal states from North Carolina to Texas, plus Tennessee and Oklahoma.
Growing to a meter tall (39 in.), with terminal inflorescences of white spikelets surrounded by six to eight, occasionally only five, showy bracts. The longest bracts are 6-13cm (2-1/3 to 5 in.) long and 5-12mm (2/10 - 1/2 in.) wide, with the white portion at the base 2.2-5.5cm (7/8 to over 2 in.) long, then green and abruptly narrowly linear to the tip.
This is one of three beaksedges in Florida having showy bracts with white bases and green tips. R. colorata, starrush whitetop, is found in most of Florida. Florida whitetop, R. floridensis only occurs in Highlands, Collier and Miami-Dade Counties, plus the Florida keys.
Rhynchospora latifolia is a member of the Cyperaceae - Sedge family.
Other species of the Rhynchospora genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Rhynchospora ciliaris - FRINGED BEAKSEDGE
Rhynchospora colorata - STARRUSH WHITETOP
Rhynchospora megalocarpa - SANDYFIELD BEAKSEDGE
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Aug 07, 2016
