Flora of North America species comparison

1–4 mm diam., tough, hard.

ridged, 10–70 cm × 0.5–2 mm, hard, without evident internal air cavities.

solitary or not, ± terete, tough, wiry.

5–10;

sheaths loose, the proximal often disintegrating to prominent fibers, often stramineous or brownish, papery, fronts membranous-hyaline with delicate veins, summit slightly concave with V-shaped veinless area and often disintegrating;

blades 0.5–1 times as long as culms, hard, without evident internal air cavities;

distal blades 3–30 cm × 0.5–2 mm, longer than sheaths, margins sparsely antrorsely spinulose or papillose, apex sharply acute.

all basal;

sheaths often disintegrating into fibers;

ligules ciliate;

blades strongly C-shaped in cross section to subcylindric, tough, wiry.

proximal involucral bract 1–15 cm, resembling foliage leaf blade.

terminal, often pseudolateral, capitate;

spikelets 1–6(–10);

involucral bracts 1–3, spreading or erect, leaflike.

ovoid to lanceoloid or terete, 5–20 × 3–5 mm;

scales pale to dark red-brown, midribs usually stramineous, smooth;

proximal 1 or 2 scales often resembling involucral bracts, with awnlike blades, to 15 mm;

other scales in proximal part of spikelet prominently 9-veined, ovate, 4 × 3 mm, papery to often cartilaginous, margins hyaline, ciliolate, apex entire, acute to rounded.

5–20 × 3–5 mm;

scales 30–60, spirally arranged, each subtending flower, smooth, glabrous, margins ciliolate.

perianth bristles pale brown, unequal.

bisexual;

perianth of 1–6 bristles, straight, not longer than achene, retrorsely spinulose;

stamens 3;

styles deciduous, linear, 2-fid.

greenish to orange-brown, broadly obovoid, 2–2.3 × 1.5–1.7 mm.

plano-convex or unequally biconvex.