Flora of North America species comparison

1–1.5 mm thick.

15–120 cm;

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

5–20 cm, 2–2.5 mm thick at base.

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 to 13 cm, fronts uniformly colorless or pale brown;

blades with inconspicuous median groove, not flattened, terete in cross section, 5–12 cm × 0.4–10 mm, lacking conspicuous air cavities.

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.

0.7–2 cm × 4–6 mm, staminate portion to 5 mm.

(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.

veinless, stipitate, elliptic, 2.5–3.5 × 1.5 mm, tightly enclosing and distended by achene, base narrowly cuneate, apex acute;

beak erose;

rachilla shorter than fruit.

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

sessile.

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 yellow-brown medially, 1-veined, equaling perigynia in width, usually shorter, apex obtuse or acute, not inrolled, awns absent.

1.5–2 mm.

1.5–2.5 mm.

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