Flora of North America species comparison

15–120 cm;

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

8–38 cm;

bases (remnants of old leaves) weakly to strongly fibrous.

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.

blades green, 1.5–3.5(–5) mm wide, herbaceous, smooth to scabrous abaxially, smooth to scabrous adaxially.

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.

usually with either staminate or pistillate spikes, occasionally with both;

peduncles of staminate spikes short;

proximal nonbasal bracts leaflike, dark purple to black at base, shorter than inflorescences.

(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.

proximal pistillate spikes 1–4 (basal spikes 0–1);

cauline spikes overlapping or somewhat separted, with 4–9 perigynia; staminate spikes 13–24 × (1.4–)2–4.1 mm.

(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, occasionally dark purple in age, veinless or 5-veined near base, obovoid, 3.1–3.6 × 1.5–1.8 mm;

beak slightly bent, dark purple, 0.5–1 mm, weakly ciliate-serrulate, apical teeth 0.2 mm.

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

pale to medium brown, globose, round in cross section, 1.9–2.2 × 1.4–1.8 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.

pistillate scales dark purple to black, with narrow white margins, lanceolate, 3.8–4.6 × 1.3–1.8 mm, apex acuminate; staminate scales oblanceolate, 4.6–5.6 × 1.1–1.6 mm, apex acute;

proximal staminate scales with narrow white margins 0.1–0.2 mm wide.

2.1–4 mm.

3.

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