Flora of North America species comparison

roundly trigonous, basally with dark fibrous remnants of old leaf sheaths, (0.5–)4–30 cm × 0.4 –1.1 mm, glabrous.

trigonous, (12–)30–80(–90) cm × 0.7–1.7 mm, glabrous or nearly so.

1–5, flat, involute toward apex, 3–18 cm × 1–2.5(–3) mm.

flat to V-shaped, 20–45 cm × 2–4 mm, margins and keel minutely scabridulous.

heads hemispheric to spheric, (3–)6–15(–24) mm diam.;

rays absent;

bracts 2–5, horizontal to reflexed, parallel to culm, 1–13 cm × 1–3 mm, margins and keel sparsely minutely scabridulous distally.

spike 1, loosely ovoid to ovoid-ellipsoid, (1.5–)2.5–7 × (1–)1.5–3.5 cm;

rays 1–4, 1–15 cm;

rachis 1–2 cm;

bracts 2–4, oblique or ascending, 1–15(–24) cm × 0.4–3.5 mm, keel, margins scabrid;

rachilla ± deciduous, wingless.

(5–)20–60(–100), whitish to greenish or brownish, ovoid to oblong-lanceoloid, compressed, 3–7 × 2–4 mm;

floral scales (8–)10–12(–24), laterally milky white (infrequently yellowish, pale greenish, brown, or bronze-white), medially green or white, laterally ribless, medially 3-ribbed, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 1.6–3(–3.4) × 0.8–1.3 mm, apex mucronate to acuminate.

(3–)8–40, linear, compressed-quadrangular, 8–18 × (2.4–)2.8–4 mm;

floral scales deciduous, (2–)4–12, laterally light brown to reddish brown, medially green or light brown, laterally 2–3-ribbed, oblong-ovate, 1.6–2.6 × (1.5–)1.6–2.2(–2.4) mm, apex obtuse, sometimes mucronulate, medially glabrous.

stamens 3;

anthers linear, (0.4–)0.6–0.8(–1.1) mm, connective not prolonged;

styles 0.8–1.8 mm;

stigmas (0.5–)1–1.5(–2) mm.

anthers 0.4–0.6 mm;

styles 0.3–0.6 mm;

stigmas 0.6–1 mm.

brown to blackish, trigonous, broadly obovoid, 0.5–1 × 0.3–0.75 mm, base slightly stipelike, ± cuneate to rounded, apex apiculate, papillose.

brownish, stipitate, ellipsoid, 1.6–2 × (0.7–)0.9–1 mm, stipe whitish, 0.1–0.2 mm, apex obtuse, slightly apiculate, surfaces papillose.