Flora of North America species comparison

15–120 cm;

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

acutely angled, 20–90 cm, scabrous.

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 brown;

sheaths of proximal leaves glabrous, fronts lacking spots and veins, apex U-shaped;

blades amphistomic, 3–12 mm wide, glabrous.

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.

proximal bract subequal to inflorescence, 3–7.5 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.

erect; staminate 1–3; pistillate 2–4;

proximal pistillate spike 3–5.5 cm × 5–8 mm, base cuneate.

(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.

divergent, brown with red-brown spots on apical 1/2, 5–9-veined on each face, somewhat inflated, loosely enclosing achenes, ellipsoid or obovoid, 2.6–4 × 1.6–2.5 mm, leathery, dull, apex rounded or obtuse, glabrous;

beak brown, 0.3–0.6 mm, leathery, bidentate, teeth to 0.5 mm.

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

not constricted, dull.

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 red-brown, longer than perigynia, apex acute, awned, awn to 0.5 mm.

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

= 66, 68.