Flora of North America species comparison

(10–)20–85 cm.

easily compressed, to 120 cm × 7 mm, scabrous.

2–8.5 mm wide, sparingly scabrous.

sheaths usually all with blades, green;

fronts rugose, indistinctly linearly veined, apex colorless, fragile, convex, not forming extension, erose;

ligules acute, 10 mm, free limb to 0.8 mm;

blades not epistomic, to 100 cm × 15 mm.

densely spicate, elongate, cylindric, with 15–25 distinguishable branches, 5–15 × 4 cm;

proximal internode to 10 mm.

4–6, erect;

lateral spikes pistillate with a few staminate flowers proximally and rarely also distally, narrowly elliptic, 11–4.5 × 5.5–11 mm;

terminal spike staminate, sometimes gynecandrous or abortive, 9–42 × 1.5–3.5 mm.

horizontal, 3.2–5.1(–5.6) × 1.3–2.5 mm, minutely pustulate;

beak 1.2–2.1 mm, smooth.

pale brown with red-brown veins, 15-veined abaxially, 7-veined adaxially, to 6 × 2 mm, base distended proximally, cordate;

stipe to 0.4 mm;

beak to 3.5 mm, serrulate.

trigonous-obovoid, sides strongly concave, 1.2–1.8(–2.1) × 0.9–1.3(–1.5) mm, less than 2 times as long as wide;

style deciduous, straight or sinuous.

ovate, to 2 × 1.5 mm;

stalk to 0.3 mm;

persistent style base cylindric.

scales with distinct body, 2.9–7(–11.8) × 0.4–0.9(–1.1) mm, body 1.5–2.5 mm, translucent, apex with long, scabrous awn to 1.4–4.5(–9) mm, exceeding perigynia.

scales ± tightly imbricate, lanceolate, narrowly ovate, or oblong-obovate, 3.3–9.3(–12.5) × 0.9–1.6 mm, apex acute to truncate-erose or retuse, sometimes with scabrous awn to 0.1–6.2(–9.2) mm.

hyaline.