Flora of North America species comparison

15–120 cm;

vegetative culms few, inconspicuous, usually fewer than 15 leaves, not strikingly 3-ranked.

yellow-brown to dark brown at base, 2–75 cm.

sheaths adaxially white-hyaline, summits U-shaped or sometimes prolonged to 2 mm beyond collar and rounded, smooth;

distal ligules 2.2–3.5 mm;

blades 3–5 per fertile culm, 12–30 cm × 1.5–3.5 mm.

sheaths glabrous;

blades green, widest blades (2.3–)3–3.9(–5.6) mm wide, smooth abaxially or sparsely antrorsely scaberulous on main veins.

open, brown, (1.3–)2.5–5(–6.5) cm × 5–18 mm;

proximal internode (3–)6–13(–23) mm; 2d internode 2–12 mm;

proximal bracts scalelike or bristlelike, shorter than inflorescences.

(0.12–)0.21–0.91(–0.99) of culm height;

peduncles of lateral spikes scaberulous;

peduncles of terminal spikes 2.9–71(–103) mm, barely exceeded by to much exceeding lateral spikes;

proximal bract sheath loose, abaxially glabrous, sheath front slightly convex, elongated 0.5–1.6 mm beyond apex;

ligules 0.8–2.9(–3.7) mm;

distal bract slightly shorter than to much exceeding terminal spike.

(3–)4–7, 5–7 on larger culms, distant, distinct, ovoid to ellipsoid, 7–17(–24) × 4–8(–12) mm, base attenuate or rarely rounded, apex acute to rounded;

terminal spike usually with conspicuous staminate base.

(2–)3–6, widely separate or distal 2–4 overlapping or rarely all congested;

lateral spikes pistillate, with (6–)18–37(–86) perigynia, 5–29 × 3.1–10.2 mm, ratio of spike length (in mm) to flower number = 0.51–0.95;

terminal spikes (5–)8–26(–30) × 1–3.3(–4.2) mm.

(10–)15–40(–45) per spike, ascending-spreading, green or reddish brown, veinless or faintly and irregularly 1–5-veined adaxially, orbiculate or broadly ovate, plano-convex, (2.6–)3.4–4.8(–5.2) × (2–)2.3–3.2 mm, 0.5–0.6 mm thick, 1.2–1.8 times as long as wide, nearly leathery, margin flat, including wing 0.3–0.8 mm wide, ciliate-serrulate at least distally, smooth;

beak pale green or brown at tip, flat, ± ciliate-serrulate, abaxial suture with gold or reddish brown-hyaline margin, distance from beak tip to achene 1.5–2.4 mm.

spirally imbricate, 17–25-veined, unwrinkled, oblong-ovoid to oblong-obovoid, orbicular or suborbicular in cross section, (2.5–)2.8–3.6(–4.3) × (1.2–)1.3–1.7(–1.8) mm, (1.7–)1.9–2.5(–2.8) times as long as wide, lustrous, base very gradually tapered, apex gradually tapered;

beak absent or straight, 0–0.2 mm.

orbiculate to broadly ovate, 1.5–2.2 × 1.3–1.8 mm, 0.5–0.6 mm thick.

obovoid, 1.8–2.6 × (1–)1.2–1.4 mm, loosely enveloped by perigynia;

stipe straight 0.1–0.3(–0.4) mm;

beak straight, 0.2–0.4(–0.5) mm.

scales white-hyaline, tinged reddish brown, usually with whitish, pale gold, or green midstripe, broadly lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 2.6–4.3 mm, as long as to 0.7–0.9 mm shorter than perignyium beaks, narrower than perigynia, margins thin, sometimes involute, apex mostly acute.

scales 2.4–4.7 × 1.4–2.1 mm, margins red-brown to whitish, entire, apex with awn 0.2–2.7 mm or rarely awnless.

scales (2.3–)2.9–4.5 × 1–1.6 mm.

1.8–3.6 mm.

= 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 68.