Flora of North America species comparison

to 60 cm × 1.5 mm, scabrous.

10–45 cm, smooth to scabrous distally;

bases (remnants of old leaves) slightly or not at all fibrous.

sheaths usually all with blades;

proximal 2–3 sheaths to 10–15 cm with reduced blades shorter than sheath, green, fronts herbaceous, prominently veined, not splitting, apex truncate, fronts of distal sheaths hyaline, rugose, indistinctly linearly veined, apex colorless, hyaline, convex, entire;

ligules obtuse, 1.5 mm, free limb to 0.1 mm;

blades not clustered at base, not epistomic, to 40 cm × 5 mm.

blades pale to bright green, shorter to longer than culms, 0.8–2.5 mm wide, herbaceous, smooth to scabrous abaxially, papillose to scabrous adaxially.

very condensed, ovoid or shortly cylindric, with 5–10 indistinguishable branches, to 2.5 × 1.5 cm;

proximal internode not visible, not more than 3 mm;

proximal bract scalelike, inconspicuous.

with both staminate and pistillate spikes;

peduncles of staminate spikes 0.4–9.9 mm;

proximal nonbasal bracts leaflike, shorter than inflorescences.

proximal pistillate spikes 1–4 (basal spikes 0);

cauline spikes overlapping, proximal 2 spikes usually separated by less than 7 mm, with 4–14 perigynia; staminate spikes 5–14 × 0.5–1.8 mm.

pale brown, 9–11-veined abaxially, 5–7-veined adaxially, to 3.5 × 1.5 mm, base distended only slightly proximally, cordate;

stipe to 0.2 mm;

beak to 2 mm, margins serrulate, apex bidentate, teeth to 0.1 mm.

pale green, veinless, ellipsoid, 2.3–3.3 × 0.8–1.2 mm, longer than wide;

beak straight, pale green, 0.6–1.1 mm, weakly ciliate-serrulate, apical teeth 0.1–0.4 mm.

obovate, to 1.5 × 1 mm;

stalk to 0.2 mm;

persistent style base cylindric.

brown, ellipsoid, acutely trigonous in cross section, 1.2–1.7 × 0.7–1.3 mm.

hyaline, brown, distinctly shorter than perigynia.

pistillate scales pale to dark reddish brown, with narrow white margins, lanceolate to ovate or obovate, 2.2–3.4 × 0.4–1.8 mm, equaling or exceeding perigynia, apex usually acuminate, sometimes acute or mucronate; staminate scales lanceolate to ovate, 2.8–6 × 0.6–1.9 mm, apex acute to acuminate.

1.5–2.7 mm.

3.