Flora of North America species comparison

phyllopodic, with dead leaf remains at base, 5–35 cm.

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

blades 1–2.5 mm wide, margins sometimes involute, scabrid at tip.

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.

proximal bracts 0.5-2 cm, much shorter than inflorescences;

lateral spikes 6–15 × 3.5–5 mm, with 2–10 perigynia;

terminal spikes 6–20 × 1–2.5 mm.

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.

2.5–4.5 × 1.6–2 mm, apex rounded;

beak absent.

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.

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

scales circular-ovate, 3–4.8 × 2.2–3.4 mm, long as and wider than perigynia, apex obtuse, sometimes mucronate.

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 oblanceolate to obovate, 3.2–4.8 × 1.5–2 mm, apex acute to obtuse.

2–2.5 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.

= 52.