Flora of North America species comparison

15–120 cm;

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

acutely angled, 15–60 cm, scabrous or glabrous.

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.

basal sheaths brown;

sheaths of proximal leaves glabrous, fronts lacking spots and veins, apex U-shaped;

blades usually amphistomic, 2.8–4 mm wide, papillose or glabrous.

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.

peduncle of proximal pistillate spike 0.6–1.7 cm;

proximal bract equal to or longer than inflorescence, 2.5–5 mm wide.

(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.

erect or the proximal pendent;

proximal 2–4 spikes pistillate, 2.8–5 cm × 5–7 mm, base cuneate or attenuate;

terminal 1–3 spikes staminate.

(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, pale brown, prominently 2–5-veined on each face, somewhat inflated, loosely enclosing achenes, thin-walled, widely ellipsoid to obovoid, 2.5–3.3 × 1.5–2.2 mm, dull, base with stipe to 0.2–0.5 mm, apex acute to rounded, papillose;

beak weakly cylindric, 0.1–0.3 × 0.2–0.3 mm, entire.

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

entire or slightly constricted on 1 face, apex rounded to slightly truncate, dull;

style base straight to bent.

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 dark purple-brown, 2.5–5.5 × 0.9–1.8 mm (including awn), narrower than perigynia, midvein not reaching apex, 1/10–1/3 the width of scale, apex acuminate, aristate, awn scabrous.

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

= 78, 79.