Flora of North America species comparison

15–120 cm;

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

13–50 cm, scabrous distally;

bases (remnants of old leaves) weakly to 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 green, 0.7–4.5 mm wide, herbaceous, smooth to scabrous abaxially, smooth to scabrous 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.

with both staminate and pistillate spikes;

peduncles of staminate spikes (0.8–)2.5–20 mm;

proximal cauline bracts leaflike, green or reddish brown, shorter than 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 1–3(–4) (basal spikes 0, rarely 1);

cauline spikes overlapping or somewhat separated, with (2–)5–15 perigynia; staminate spikes 8–30 × 1.3–4.1 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.

yellowish green to pale brown or olive, veinless, obovoid, 2.8–4.6 × 1.5–2.2 mm, as long as wide;

beak straight, pale green, occasionally with reddish tinge, 0.4–1.3 mm, weakly ciliate-serrulate, apical teeth 0.1–0.7 mm.

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

dark brown, obovoid to globose, obtusely trigonous in cross section, (1.4–)1.6–2.5 × 1.5–2.2 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 pale brown to dark reddish brown or purplish brown, narrow white margins, elliptic to ovate, 2.6–5.4 × 1.2–2.6 mm, equaling perigynia, apex acute to acuminate or short-awned (rarely obtuse); staminate scales with white margins 0.4–0.8 mm wide, lanceolate to obovate, 3.6–6.7 × 1.2–1.7 mm apex obtuse to long-acuminate.

(1.5–)2–3.8 mm.

3.

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