Flora of North America species comparison

acutely angled, 50–100 cm, scabrous.

erect to arching, slender, 15–90 cm.

basal sheaths red-brown;

sheaths of proximal leaves scabrous, fronts with red-brown spots, prominently ladder-fibrillose, apex U-shaped;

blades 4–8 mm wide.

sheaths relatively tight, pale to mid brown abaxially, inner band thin and hyaline, often concave at summit;

ligules as long as wide;

blades green to yellowish green, flat, 10–25(–40) cm × 0.5–2 mm, shorter than culms.

proximal bract shorter than inflorescence, 3–5 mm wide.

erect to somewhat nodding, 1.5–7 cm × 3–6 mm;

proximal bracts bristlelike-prolonged, shorter than to exceeding spikes;

distal bracts usually scalelike.

erect; staminate 2–3; pistillate 2–4;

proximal pistillate spike 3–7 cm × 3–5 mm, base cuneate.

5–10, gynecandrous, proximal ± separate, distal closely approximate, containing 5–10 perigynia, sessile, globose to short-oblong, 3–7 × 3–4 mm;

terminal spike staminate for less than 1/2 of length, scarcely clavate.

ascending, pale brown with red-brown spots on apical 1/2, 3–7-veined on each face, somewhat flattened, loosely enclosing achenes, thick-walled, ellipsoid or ovoid, 3–3.5 × 2–2.2 mm, somewhat leathery, dull, often scabrous on apical margins, apex obtuse, papillose;

beak pale brown or red-brown, 0.2–0.3 mm.

appressed-ascending to loosely spreading at maturity, green or brown, often dark brown in age, lightly several-veined, elliptic-ovate, 2–2.5 × 0.8–1.5 mm, widest near middle, membranous;

beak shor, margin serrulate.

not constricted, dull.

pale to mid brown, ovate-orbiculate, 1.25–1.5 × 0.8–1 mm, glossy.

scales dark red-brown to black, shorter than perigynia, apex obtuse, awnless.

scales white-hyaline with green, 3-veined center, often brown tinged, ovate, subequal to, not concealing perigynia, apex obtuse to acute.

= 56.