Flora of North America species comparison

12–60 cm, 1–1.3 mm wide basally, 0.5–1 mm wide distally.

13–50 cm, scabrous distally;

bases (remnants of old leaves) weakly to strongly fibrous.

sheaths tight, green, fronts hyaline;

ligules less than 2 mm, wider than long;

widest leaf blades 1–3 mm wide, papillose adaxially.

blades green, 0.7–4.5 mm wide, herbaceous, smooth to scabrous abaxially, smooth to scabrous adaxially.

with 5–10 crowded spikes, 0.5–3 cm × 5–8 mm;

proximal bracts to 1(–3) cm;

spikes with 2–10 ascending perigynia.

with both staminate and pistillate spikes;

peduncles of staminate spikes (0.8–)2.5–20 mm;

proximal cauline bracts leaflike, green or reddish brown, shorter than inflorescences.

proximal pistillate spikes 1–3(–4) (basal spikes 0, rarely 1);

cauline spikes overlapping or somewhat separated, with (2–)5–15 perigynia; staminate spikes 8–30 × 1.3–4.1 mm.

brown, abaxial face 7–15-veined proximally, otherwise veinless or obscurely veined, 3.3–4 × 1.8–2.3 mm, base of perigynium spongy, thickened and longitudinally striate adaxially, spongy region 0.7–1 mm, margins serrulate to subentire distally;

beak 0.5–1 mm, apical teeth 0.1–0.3 mm.

yellowish green to pale brown or olive, veinless, obovoid, 2.8–4.6 × 1.5–2.2 mm, as long as wide;

beak straight, pale green, occasionally with reddish tinge, 0.4–1.3 mm, weakly ciliate-serrulate, apical teeth 0.1–0.7 mm.

ovate to circular, 1.6–2.7 × 1.5–2 mm.

dark brown, obovoid to globose, obtusely trigonous in cross section, (1.4–)1.6–2.5 × 1.5–2.2 mm.

scales hyaline or pale brown with green 1–3-veined center, ovate, 2.8–3.2 × 1.8–2.6 mm, body slightly shorter than to length of perigynium, apex acute to short-awned.

1.8–2.3 mm.

(1.5–)2–3.8 mm.

straight or slightly twisted, 0.05 mm wide.

3.

pistillate scales pale brown to dark reddish brown or purplish brown, narrow white margins, elliptic to ovate, 2.6–5.4 × 1.2–2.6 mm, equaling perigynia, apex acute to acuminate or short-awned (rarely obtuse); staminate scales with white margins 0.4–0.8 mm wide, lanceolate to obovate, 3.6–6.7 × 1.2–1.7 mm apex obtuse to long-acuminate.