Flora of North America species comparison

15–120 cm;

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

25–35 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.

2–3 mm wide, often circinate.

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 globose or elongate, 6–17 × 6–10 mm;

proximal spikes sometimes erect, separate, short-pedunculate;

distal spikes contiguous, overlapping, or erect, sessile or short-pendunculate, forming dense terminal cluster;

lateral 1–2(–4) spikes pistillate;

terminal spike gynecandrous.

(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, light brown, strongly veined, broadly elliptic, 4–5 × 2–3 mm, apex abruptly beaked, smooth or distally papillose;

beak 0.6–0.8 mm, deeply, sharply bidentate, smooth or papillose.

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 light to dark brown or chestnut, distal margins broadly hyaline, lanceolate, equaling or, more commonly, exceeding and narrower than perigynia, midvein lighter colored than body, conspicuous, often raised, prominent, apex acute or mucronate.

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