Flora of North America species comparison

dark maroon at base; flowering stems 25–80 cm, usually longer than leaves at maturity, 1–2 mm thick, glabous to pubescent.

10–90 cm.

basal sheaths maroon, bladeless, pubescent, sometimes glabrous, others grading from maroon to green on back, light brown-hyaline on front, dotted or streaked with dark red, pubescent distally;

blades flat, 3–7 mm wide, pilose, especially abaxially, sparsely so distally, margins ciliate.

blades 1–3.5 mm wide.

peduncles of lateral spikes slender, 5–20 mm, shorter than spikes, pubescent;

peduncle of terminal spikes 5–40 mm, minutely scabrous;

proximal bracts nearly equaling but usually not exceeding inflorescences;

sheaths 15–25 mm;

blades 1.5–3 mm wide.

3–12(–22) cm;

proximal internodes 10–60(–100) mm;

peduncles of proximal spikes to 8 cm;

proximal bracts with blades 5–140 mm, sheaths cylindric, 5–25(–35) mm, mouth 0.9–1.5 mm wide.

3–8;

lateral spikes androgynous or pistillate, rarely some entirely staminate, the proximal inclined or pendent, 5–30 × 3–7 mm;

terminal spike staminate or androgynous, 10–28 × 1.8–4 mm.

green to dark olive-green, copiously red dotted, 2-ribbed with 6–10 almost equally prominent veins, loosely enveloping achenes, ellipsoid-ovoid, 3.5–5 × 1.7–2 mm, membranous, base acute or with short stipe, apex gradually tapered to beak, glabrous or less often pubescent;

beak minutely bidentate, 0.4–0.7 mm.

ascending, pale yellow proximally, brown or black distally, 3–9-veined, lanceolate, 3.5–5.5 × 1.1–2.4 mm, margins ciliate-serrulate distally, apex tapered, shortly setose, sometimes setae confined to veins, or subglabrous;

beak indistinct, to 0.5(–1) mm.

distinctly stipitate, 1.7–2.5 × 1–1.5 mm, stipe to 0.7 mm.

obovoid, 1.7–2.2 × 1–1.3 mm.

spikes 2–4, 1 per node, distal 2 usually overlapping terminal spike, others well separated, nodding or drooping at maturity, pistillate with 20–45 perigynia attached 1.5 mm apart, narrowly cylindric, 15–45 × 3–4.5 mm.

spike gynecandrous, 15–45 × 2–4.5 mm.

scales hyaline with broad green, red dotted midrib, elliptic-ovate, shorter than mature perigynia, apex acute to aristate or awned, awn less than 1 mm, ciliate.

scales brown to black, oblong-obovate, 3–5.8 × 1.1–2 mm, apex obtuse to acute, sometimes shortly awned.

scales brown or black with hyaline margins, oblong-ovate, 3.1–6.2 × 1–3 mm.

1.5–3 mm.