Flora of North America species comparison

25–75 cm, distally scabrous.

erect, 35–140 cm;

vegetative culms few, inconspicuous, usually fewer than 12 leaves, not strikingly 3-ranked, leaves clustered at apex.

2–3.5 mm wide.

sheaths usually with white intervenal areas abaxially, conspicuously green-veined adaxially nearly to collar, Y-shaped hyaline area at collar, adaxially firm, summits truncate and prolonged to 2 mm beyond collar, rounded, proximal sheath loose, smooth;

distal ligules 2–5.5 mm;

blades 3–7 per fertile culm, 20–65 cm × 2.2–6(–6.5) mm.

proximal bracts shorter than, equaling, or exceeding inflorescences;

spikes separate, erect, short-pendunculate, short-oblong or elongate, 10–25 × 6–10 mm;

lateral 2–3(–4) spikes pistillate;

terminal spike gynecandrous.

erect to arching, compact to open, green, 1.5–5 cm × 5–16 mm;

proximal internode 3.5–10(–11.5) mm; 2d internode 2–8 mm;

proximal bracts scalelike with bristle tips shorter than or equaling inflorescences.

4–10, overlapping to distinct, globose to ellipsoid, 7–13 × 4–7 mm, base rounded or occasionally tapered, apex obtuse to rounded.

ascending, gray green or whitish, faintly veined, elliptic, 2.5–4 × 1.5–2 mm, apex beakless or abruptly beaked, densely papillose;

beak to 0.2 mm.

15–80 on larger spikes, spreading, green distally, conspicuously 4+-veined on each face, narrowly to broadly ovate, plano-convex, 2.7–4.1 × 1.3–2.3 mm, 0.35–0.5 mm thick, margin flat, including wing 0.25–0.45 mm wide, smooth;

beak pale green at tip, flat, ciliate-serrulate, abaxial suture with conspicuous white-hyaline margin, distance from beak tip to achene 1.2–2.2 mm.

nearly filling body of perigynia.

elliptic, 1.3–1.6 × 0.9–1.2 mm, 0.35–0.5 mm thick.

scales light to dark brown, lanceolate, shorter or much longer and narrower than perigynia, midvein lighter colored than body, conspicuous, often raised, prominent, apex acute or acuminate, mucronate, mucro 0.5–3 mm.

scales white-hyaline, with green midstripe, ovate, 2.1–3.3 mm, much shorter by 0.7–1.6 mm and narrower than perigynia, margins hyaline or pale, sometimes involute, apex obtuse to acute.

= ca. 106.

= 68.