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.

typically (3–)5–9 per clump, 25–85(–150) cm;

vegetative culms inconspicuous, usually fewer than 10 leaves clustered at apex, not strikingly 3-ranked.

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 with adaxial hyaline area, not mottled abaxially, frequently puckered or cross-corrugated, summits truncate or U-shaped, rarely slightly V-shaped, at most shortly prolonged beyond collar, papillose (at 30X);

distal ligules 1.5–3.5 mm;

blades 2–4 per fertile culm, 10–28(–40) cm × 2–4 mm.

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.

erect, compact on tallest culms, dense, brown, 1.2–2.5(–3.5) cm × 8–12(–15) mm;

proximal internode 1.5–6(–10) mm; 2d internode 2–3.5 mm.

4–11, ± overlapping, ellipsoid or globose, 5.5–10 × 3.6–6.5 mm, base usually acute, apex rounded to broadly acute;

proximal bracts scalelike, often with bristle tips shorter than inflorescences.

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.

spreading to ascending-spreading, tan to brown at maturity, contrasting with scales while maturing, conspicuously at least 4–8-veined abaxially, 3–7-veined adaxially, broadly ovate, plano-convex, 3.5–4.5(–4.7) × (1.4–)1.6–2.4 mm, 0.45–0.6 mm thick, margin flat, including wing 0.25–0.45 mm wide, smooth;

beak golden to dark brown tinged at tip, flat, ciliate-serrulate, abaxial suture with golden to dark brown hyaline margin, distance from beak tip to achene 1.7–2.3 mm.

substipitate, 2–2.5 × 1.7–1.8 mm.

ovate to broadly elliptic, 1.3–1.6 × 0.9–1.2 mm, 0.4–0.55 mm thick.

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 reddish brown or dark brown, ovate to lanceolate, 2.4–3.5 mm, at least slightly shorter than perigynium beaks, narrower than perigynia, apex acute or somewhat obtuse.

= 36+IV.

= 42.