Flora of North America species comparison

15–38 cm.

dark maroon at base; flowering stems 25–50 cm, as long or slightly longer than leaves at maturity, 0.4–0.6 mm thick, glabrous, sometimes scabrous on angles within inflorescence.

sheath summits white-hyaline, green ribbed, U-shaped, occasionally prolonged to 4 mm distal to collar;

distal ligules 1–3(–3.5) mm;

blades 2–4 per fertile culm, 4.5–18 cm × 1.5–2.5 mm.

basal sheaths maroon, bladeless, pubescent, often only sparsely so;

others grading from maroon to green on back, brown-hyaline on front, red dotted and pubescent toward apex;

blades flat, 1–2 mm wide, sparsely pilose on adaxial surface, margins ciliate.

nodding, dense, dark or medium brown, 1–1.2 cm × 5.5–10 mm;

proximal internode 1.3–3 mm; 2d internode 0.6–1.5 mm;

proximal bracts scalelike to bristlelike.

peduncles of lateral spike 0–35 mm;

peduncle of terminal spike 5–35 mm, minutely scabrous;

proximal bracts equaling or often exceeding inflorescences;

sheathless and auriculate or with sheaths less than 3 mm;

blades to 1 mm wide.

3–6, usually individually indistinct, ovoid to broadly ovoid, 4.5–6.5 × 2.5–5.5 mm, base and apex acute to rounded;

terminal spike without conspicuous staminate base.

ascending-spreading to spreading, gold to dark brown, conspicuously 0–7-veined abaxially, conspicuously 0–4-veined adaxially, ovate, plano-convex, 2.6–3.2 × 0.9–1.3 mm, 0.5–0.65 mm thick, margin unwinged, pithlike tissue usually present in proximal perigynia walls;

beak medium or dark brown at tip, often with white-hyaline, cylindric to somewhat flat, abaxial suture with conspicuous white margin, distance from beak tip to achene 1.2–1.6 mm, entire.

green, usually red dotted, 2-ribbed and conspicuously 6–10-veined, narrowly lance-ellipsoid, loosely enveloping achene, 4–4.8 × 1.2–1.5 mm, membranous, base with stipe 1 mm, apex gradually tapering to beak, pubescent toward apex;

beak truncate or minutely toothed, 1 mm.

ovate to obovate, 1.2–1.5 × 0.8–1 mm, 0.4–0.5 mm thick.

substipitate, 2–2.5 × 0.8–1 mm.

scales dark brown, usually with pale or green midstripe, ovate, 1.5–2.5(–3.5) mm, usually shorter, narrower than perigynia, margin occasionally hyaline gold, to 0.4 mm wide, apex obtuse or acute.

scales reddish brown with narrow hyaline margins and green midrib, ovate, shorter than mature perigynia, apex rounded to acute or cuspidate, glabrous.

spikes 1–3, 1 per node, each overlapping 1 above but not crowded, proximal 1 often well separated, erect to ascending, sessile or pedunculate, pistillate with 10–25 perigynia attached less than 1 mm apart, narrowly elongate, 10–35 × 2–3 mm.

spike staminate, 10–24 × 1.5–2.5 mm.

= 64