Flora of North America species comparison

reddish brown to dark maroon at base; flowering stems 20–70 cm, much longer than leaves at maturity, 1–1.7 mm thick, glabrous or sparsely pilose.

35–110 cm;

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

basal sheaths reddish brown, bladeless, pilose;

others grading from dark red to green on back, tan-hyaline on front, reddish brown dotted and usually pubescent at apex;

blades flat, 3–12 mm wide, usually pilose, more densely so abaxially, margins ciliate.

sheaths adaxially green, narrow hyaline band near collar, adaxially firm, summits U-shaped, smooth;

distal ligules 1.5–3.2 mm;

blades 3–6 per fertile culm, 12–38 cm × 1.5–4 mm.

peduncles of lateral spikes, when present, less than 10 mm, often pubescent;

proximal bracts usually shorter than inflorescence;

sheaths 5–50 mm;

blades 1.2–2 mm wide.

erect, ± congested, green to light brown, 1.3–3(–3.5) cm × 7–16 mm;

proximal internode 1.5–6 mm; 2d internode 2.5–6.5 mm;

proximal bracts aristate, with bristle tips shorter than inflorescences.

2–4(–5), overlapping, globose to ellipsoid, 6–16 × 5–12 mm, base and apex rounded;

terminal spike usually lacking conspicuous staminate base.

pale green, blotched with dark maroon at base, dark maroon-brown distally, 2-ribbed and finely veined with to 20 veins, most conspicuous near base, loosely enveloping achene, ellipsoid, 3.7–5.3 × 1–2.2 mm, membranous, base acute, apex narrowing to beak, body covered with long, appressed to spreading hairs;

beak bidentate, 1 mm.

(25–)30–80 per spike, spreading at maturity, ascending-spreading, pale brown, conspicuously 5-veined or more abaxially, conspicuously 0–6-veined adaxially, elliptic to ± orbiculate, plano-convex, (3–)3.3–4.8(–5.7) × 1.8–3 mm, 0.5–0.6 mm thick, 1.2–1.8 times as long as wide, margin flat, including wing 0.4–0.8 mm wide, smooth;

beak light brown at tip, flat, 0.7–1.6(–1.8) mm, ± ciliate-serrulate, abaxial suture with white or hyaline golden brown margin, distance from beak tip to achene 1.6–2.6 mm.

substipitate, 2–2.6 × 1.2–1.7 mm.

elliptic to narrowly oblong, 1.3–1.7 × 0.9–1.3 mm, 0.5–0.6 mm thick.

spikes 2–5, 1 per node, usually crowded toward apex and overlapping staminate spike, erect, sessile or pedunculate, pistillate with 20–40 perigynia attached less than 1 mm apart, cylindric, 12–40 × 4–11 mm.

spike staminate, rarely gynecandrous, sessile or very short-pedunculate, 8–30 × 2–5.5 mm.

scales reddish brown with narrow white-hyaline margins and green midrib, broadly ovate, shorter than mature perigynia, apex obtuse to short-cuspidate, often pubescent on midrib and awn, ciliate distally.

scales hyaline-brown, with green or pale midstripe, ovate, 2.9–3.5 mm, much shorter and narrower than perigynia, margins pale, apex acute.

= 50, 52.

= 68, 70.