Flora of North America species comparison

15–120 cm;

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

20–75 cm, smooth.

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.

3–7 mm wide.

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 bracts shorter than or exceeding inflorescences;

spikes separate, short-oblong or elongate, 10–20 × 3–5 mm, of similar length;

proximal spikes often divergent to pendent, long-pendunculate;

distal spikes divergent or erect, short-pendunculate;

lateral 2–4 spikes pistillate;

terminal spike staminate.

(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.

ascending, spreading, greenish yellow or yellow-brown, veined, broadly elliptic or obovate, 3.5–4.5 × 1.75–2 mm, apex abruptly beaked, smooth;

beak 0.3–0.5 mm, bidentate, smooth.

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

nearly filling body of perigynia.

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 brown or black, margins hyaline, lanceolate, shorter than or equaling and narrower than perigynia, midvein same color as body, inconspicuous or lighter colored and conspicuous, often raised, prominent, apex acute or short-mucronate.

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

= 58.