Flora of North America species comparison

15–120 cm;

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

7–47 cm, scabrous distally;

bases strongly fibrous.

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.

blades bright green, usually shorter than stems, 1.4–4.5 mm wide, herbaceous, glabrous abaxially, strongly scabrous to papillose adaxially.

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.

usually with both staminate and pistillate spikes;

peduncles of basal spikes arching, elongate, slender;

peduncles of terminal staminate spikes 2–5 mm;

proximal cauline bracts leaflike, usually shorter than (occasionally slightly exceeding) inflorescences.

(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.

proximal pistillate spikes 2–4 (basal spikes 1–2);

cauline spikes overlapping or somewhat separated, with 3–10 perigynia;

terminal staminate spikes 10–25 × 1.5–3.2 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.

green, 12–20-veined conspicuous to at least mid body, globose to obovoid, (3.5–)3.8–5 × (1.6–)1.8–2.3 mm;

beak straight, pale green, often tinged with dark reddish brown near apex, (0.5–)0.7–1.4 mm, ciliate-serrulate, apical teeth 0.2–0.3 mm.

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

brown, globose to obovoid, round to obtusely trigonous in cross section, 1.9–2.7 × 1.6–2.3 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.

pistillate scales purplish brown or reddish brown, with similarly colored or narrow white margins, ovate, 4.2–6.5 × 1.8–2.1 mm, equaling or exceeding perigynia, apex obtuse to cuspidate (awned in some basal spikes);

staminate scales ovate to lanceolate, 4.2–7.6 × 1.8–2.1 mm, apex obtuse to acute or short-awned.

2–3.3 mm.

3.

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