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.

15–100 cm, 1.5–3 mm wide basally, 0.9–1.1 mm wide distally.

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.

sheaths tight, green, fronts hyaline, yellow-brown and thickened at mouth;

ligules to 3 mm, wider than long;

blades 2.5–4 mm at widest.

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.

forming dense heads, with 4–8 spikes, 1–1.5 times as long as wide, 1–2 cm × 9–14 mm;

proximal bracts not more than 2 cm;

spikes with 8–20 ascending to spreading perigynia.

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.

pale green to pale brown, weakly veined or veinless abaxially, 3–4.1 × (1.7–)2–2.6 mm, margins serrulate distally;

beak 0.8–1 mm, apical teeth 0.2–0.3 mm.

substipitate, 2–2.5 × 1.7–1.8 mm.

suborbiculate, 1.5–1.7 × 1.3–1.5 mm.

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 brownish to green-hyaline with green, 3-veined center, ovate, 2.3–3.1 × 1.2–2 mm, narrower than and as long as perigynia, apex cuspidate to short-awned.

1.1–1.7 mm.

= 42.