Flora of North America species comparison

15–120 cm;

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

to 60 cm × 1.5 mm, 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.

sheaths usually all with blades;

proximal 2–3 sheaths to 10–15 cm with reduced blades shorter than sheath, green, fronts herbaceous, prominently veined, not splitting, apex truncate, fronts of distal sheaths hyaline, rugose, indistinctly linearly veined, apex colorless, hyaline, convex, entire;

ligules obtuse, 1.5 mm, free limb to 0.1 mm;

blades not clustered at base, not epistomic, to 40 cm × 5 mm.

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.

very condensed, ovoid or shortly cylindric, with 5–10 indistinguishable branches, to 2.5 × 1.5 cm;

proximal internode not visible, not more than 3 mm;

proximal bract scalelike, inconspicuous.

(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.

pale brown, 9–11-veined abaxially, 5–7-veined adaxially, to 3.5 × 1.5 mm, base distended only slightly proximally, cordate;

stipe to 0.2 mm;

beak to 2 mm, margins serrulate, apex bidentate, teeth to 0.1 mm.

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

obovate, to 1.5 × 1 mm;

stalk to 0.2 mm;

persistent style base cylindric.

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.

hyaline, brown, distinctly shorter than perigynia.

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