Flora of North America species comparison

solitary or not, erect, 50–130 cm.

dark maroon at base; flowering stems 25–100 cm, as long as leaves at maturity or often longer, 0.5–1 mm thick, glabrous but scabrous within inflorescence.

4–7;

basal sheaths brownish;

sheath of distal leaf 3–21 cm;

ligules rounded to triangular, 6–28 mm;

blades 30–80 cm × 6–13 mm.

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

others grading from maroon to green on back, pale brown-hyaline or reddish brown on front, often red dotted, sometimes finely pubescent;

blades flat, 2–7 mm wide, glabrous on both surfaces, margins and abaxial midribs often finely scabrous.

6–40 cm;

peduncles of proximal spikes 1–13 cm, basal 2 peduncles 2–17 cm apart; of terminal spikes 1–12 cm, shorter than to somewhat exceeding the distal pistillate spike;

bracts leafy, sheath 1–9 cm;

blades 20–70 cm × 4–11 mm.

peduncles of lateral spikes slender, to 50 mm, usually shorter than spikes or only slightly longer, scabrous; of terminal spike 15–50 mm, finely scabrous;

proximal bracts longer, or more often, shorter than inflorescences;

sheaths 1–7 cm;

blades 1–3.5 mm wide.

proximal pistillate spikes 2–6, the distal usually ± crowded, ascending, densely 8–90-flowered, usually cylindric, 2–8 × 1.5–3 cm;

terminal staminate spikes 1–2, 2–10 cm × 2–5 mm.

ascending to spreading, strongly 17–25-veined, sessile, lance-ovoid, 12–18.5 × 3.8–6 mm, shiny, glabrous;

beak conic, 6–9 mm.

green to olive-green, usually red dotted, prominently 2-ribbed, finely 12–20-veined, loosely enveloping achene, fusiform to lance-ovoid, 5–9.5 × 1.1–2.2 mm, membranous, base acute, apex tapering gradually to abruptly contracted beak, glabrous or short-pubescent;

beak bidentate 0.7–2 mm, including teeth to 1 mm.

stipitate, rhombic, concave faces, angles thickened, prominently knobbed with hard, nipplelike points, 3–4.5 × (2.2–)2.4–3.4 mm;

style same texture as achene.

stipitate, 1.9–2.5 × 1–1.5 mm, stipe 0.5–1.5 mm.

scales 3–9 veined, lanceolate, 6–13 × 1.8–3.2 mm, apex acute to awned, awn rough, to 5.5 mm.

scales white-hyaline, sometimes tinged with pale brown or suffused with chestnut, with broad green midrib, finely red dotted, oblong, 2.8–6 mm, much shorter than mature perigynia, apex obtuse, acute or cuspidate, awn to 0.2 mm, glabrous, distal margin ciliate.

3, 3.5–7 mm.

spikes 2–5, 1 per node, well separated, erect at anthesis, soon nodding, pistillate with 10–25 perigynia attached 2–9 mm apart, linear, 25–80 × 2–3 mm.

spike staminate or sometimes gynecandrous with a few pistillate flowers distally; 15–50 × 0.6–1.2 mm.