Flora of North America species comparison

30–120(–140) cm;

vegetative culms with few leaves clustered at apex.

dark maroon at base; flowering stems 30–100 cm, as long as leaves at maturity or a little shorter, 1.5–3 mm thick, glabrous or pubescent on angles.

sheaths adaxially conspicuously green-veined nearly to collar, with a narrow hyaline band or sharp Y-shaped hyaline region at collar; adaxially firm, summits U-shaped, finely papillose;

distal ligules 1.8–4.4(–6) mm;

blades 2–4(–6) per fertile culm, 8–30 cm × 2–4.5 mm.

basal sheaths maroon, bladeless, sheaths pubescent or rarely glabrous;

others grading from maroon to green on back, light brown-hyaline on front, red dotted and usually pubescent distally, prolonged at apex;

blades flat, 3–8 mm wide, usually pubescent on abaxial surface at least near sheath, minutely scabrous on margins.

± erect, usually open, green to brown, 1–4.5(–6) cm × 5–14 mm;

proximal internode 1–14 mm; 2d internode 3–8 mm;

proximal bracts scalelike, often with bristle tips.

peduncles of proximal spikes slender, 10–25 mm, pubescent;

peduncle of terminal spike 10–30 mm, pubescent;

proximal bracts equaling or often exceeding inflorescences;

sheaths 15–45 mm;

blades 2–6 mm wide.

3–10, distinct, ellipsoid to ovoid, 6–13(–17) × 3.8–7 mm, base rounded or obtuse, apex obtuse to broadly acute; staminate portion 2 mm or less.

appressed-ascending, green to drab brown, conspicuously 5–many-veined on each face, obovate, flat except over achene, 3–4.6 × 1.6–2.6(–2.8) mm, 0.4–0.5 mm thick, margin flat, including wing 0.5–0.8 mm wide;

beak green to brown at tip, flat, broadly triangular, ciliate-serrulate, abaxial suture with conspicuous white hyaline margin, distance from beak tip to achene 1.4–2.2 mm.

green to olive-green, often red dotted, 2-ribbed with 9–12 almost equally prominent, evenly spaced veins extending from base to apex, slightly inflated around achene, ellipsoid-ovoid, 4.5–6 × 2–2.5 mm, membranous, base rounded, apex narrowing abruptly to minute beak, glabrous;

beak bidentate, less than 0.5 mm.

oblong, 1.3–1.7 × 0.7–1 mm, 0.4–0.5 mm thick, apiculum less than 0.4 mm;

style straight.

distinctly stipitate, 2.2–2.7 × 1–1.2 mm, stipe 1 mm.

scales white-hyaline, becoming pale silvery brown with age, with pale or green center, broadly lanceolate, 2.2–3.7 mm, shorter and narrower than perigynia, apex obtuse.

scales pale hyaline with broad green midrib, elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, body shorter than mature perigynia but extending into pubescent green awn 2.5–3 mm, often short-ciliate near apex.

spikes 2–4, 1 per node, well separated or distal 2 usually overlapping terminal spike, mostly erect when young but at least proximal spikes nodding at maturity, pistillate with 10–40 perigynia attached 1 mm apart distally and to 4 mm apart proximally, cylindric, 10–50 × 3.5–6 mm.

spike gynecandrous, sessile or pedunculate, 15–35 × 2–6 mm.

= 58, 62.