Flora of North America species comparison

brown at base, densely covered with brown fibrillose remains of previous year’s leaves; flowering stems 30–90 cm, longer than leaves at maturity, 0.5–0.7 mm thick, glabrous but finely scabrous within inflorescence.

21–67 cm × 0.7–1.4 mm, smooth or papillose.

sheaths glabrous, basal ones tinged with brown and all bearing blades, green to hyaline on back, white-hyaline on front;

blades flat, 2.5–4 mm wide, finely scabrous on adaxial surface and margins, glabrous on abaxial surface.

ligule of distal leaf (2.5–)3.4–6.8(–7.4) mm, 1.5–3 times as long as wide;

blades 2.4–5.9 mm wide, widest blade 2.8–5.9 mm wide.

peduncles of lateral spikes slender, 20–60 mm, equaling or somewhat longer than spikes, finely scabrous;

peduncle of terminal spike 5–15 mm, scabrous;

proximal bracts equaling inflorescences or more often shorter;

sheaths 3–5 mm or rarely longer;

blades 1–1.5 mm wide.

(17–)34–43(–68) mm;

proximal internode 4.1–16(–40) mm;

proximal bract (11–)16–26(–61) mm, awn (9–)13–23(–59) mm;

spikes 5–7, usually gynecandrous;

proximal spikes with 2 staminate and 11–23 pistillate flowers, 8–15 × 3.3–5.8 mm;

terminal spikes usually with 2–4 staminate and 16–20 pistillate flowers, 9–12.7 × 4.2–5.7 mm.

shiny tan to golden green, 2-ribbed, but otherwise veinless, closely enveloping achene at maturity, ovoid-ellipsoid, 4.5–6.5 × 1.5–2 mm, membranous, base acute, apex abruptly contracted to beak, glabrous;

beak bidentate, narrowly tubular, nearly as long as body, finely scabrous on edge, teeth hyaline, 1 mm.

ascending to erect, green to pale brown, 0–3-veined abaxially, prominently to weakly 0–2-veined adaxially, ovate to narrowly ovate, 3.3–3.9(–4.4) × 1.1–1.5 mm, 2.3–3 times as long as wide, apex abruptly contracted to gradually tapering;

beak 0.9–1.5(–1.7) mm, (0.28–)0.3–0.38 times as long as perigynia, margins serrulate, apex entire or bidentulate, teeth to 0.3 mm, 0–0.08 times as long as perigynia.

substipitate, 2–2.5 × 1.7–1.8 mm.

1.5–1.8(–1.9) × 0.9–1.4 mm, 1.2–1.5(–1.7) times as long as wide.

spikes 4–5, 1 per node;

proximal spikes well separated, nodding or drooping at maturity, pistillate with 10–40 perigynia about 1 mm apart, cylindric, 10–35 × 8–10 mm;

distal spikes crowded near apex, sessile or nearly so, staminate or androgynous, linear, less than 20 mm.

spike staminate or rarely with a few perigynia at base, 10–20 × 1.5–2 mm.

scales pale hyaline tinged with chestnut, narrow midrib green, sometimes finely scabrous, ovate-oblong, shorter than mature perigynia, apex long-acuminate, glabrous.

scales with whitish to stramineous margins, 2.6–3.3 × 1.2–1.8 mm, body (2.3–)2.7–3.8, apex acuminate to short-awned, awn to 0.7 mm.

scales with whitish to stramineous margins, 1.9–2.8 × 1–1.3 mm.

1.8–1.9 mm.

1.3–1.8 mm.

= 42.

= 54.