Flora of North America species comparison

15–120 cm;

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

dark maroon at base; flowering stems 25–80 cm, much longer than leaves at maturity, 1–1.8 mm thick, glabrous but scabrous on angles, especially within inflorescence.

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.

basal sheaths maroon, bladeless, glabrous on back;

others grading from maroon to green on back, brown-hyaline and usually red dotted on front, glabrous or often pubescent near apex;

blades flat, 2.5–5.5 mm wide, usually less than 4 mm wide, glabrous or sparingly rough-hispidulous on 1 or both surfaces, margins scabrous, especially distally.

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.

peduncles of proximal spikes 0–65 mm and finely scabrous;

peduncle of terminal spike 0–12 mm, scabrous;

proximal bracts equaling or exceeding inflorescences;

sheaths 8–40 mm;

blades 1–4 mm wide.

(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.

(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 to golden green, usually blotched or dotted with dark red, 2-ribbed and finely 12–15-veined, veins more obvious on abaxial side, loosely enveloping achene, oblong-lanceolate, 2.7–5 × 0.8–1.8 mm, membranous, base acute, apex tapering to beak, sparsely pubescent toward apex;

beak minutely bidentate, 0.3–1 mm, ciliate between apical teeth.

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

sessile, 1.6–2.5 × 0.9–1.5 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 with green midrib and broad pale hyaline margins suffused with reddish or golden brown, broadly ovate, shorter than mature perigynia, apex acute to rounded, sometimes cuspidate, margins ciliate distally, otherwise glabrous.

spikes 3–5, 1 per node, well separated, erect or arching at maturity, pistillate with 20–45 perigynia attached 0.5–2 mm apart, rarely the distal staminate, linear to narrowly cylindric, 10–60 × 2.5–6 mm.

spike staminate, rarely with a few perigynia, sessile or pedunculate, 18–38 × 1.2–4 mm.

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

= 56, 58, 60.