Flora of North America species comparison

not rooting at tips, terete, 10–40 cm, soft to firm, smooth.

terete, often with 8–12 blunt ridges when dry, 20–55 cm × 0.3–1.3 mm, soft to hard.

distal leaf sheaths proximally brownish or sometimes reddish, distally stramineous to green.

distal leaf sheaths persistent, rarely splitting, proximally red to stramineous, distally green to reddish, papery, apex often dark reddish, subtruncate to obtuse, not callose, tooth present on some or all culms of plant, to 0.5 mm.

ovoid to oblong-subcylindric, 4–12 × 2–3.5 mm, apex acute to rounded;

proximal scale empty, clasping 1/2 of culm, like floral scales;

subproximal 1 or 2 scales often empty;

floral scales 20–100, 10 per mm of rachilla, entirely stramineous or sometimes red-brown, ovate, (1.5–)2–2.5 × 1.5 mm, apex broadly rounded, entire.

cylindric to ovoid, 5–20 × 2–3 mm, apex rounded to subacute;

proximal scale amplexicaulous, apex entire;

subproximal scale empty;

floral scales appressed in fruit, 20–200+, 10 per mm of rachilla, dark brown, midrib regions often stramineous or greenish, oblong, 1.7–2.5 × 1 mm, apex entire, broadly rounded, usually recurved, mostly carinate.

perianth bristles (5–)6(–8), brown, stout, the longer equaling achene or tubercle, retrorsely spinulose;

stamens 3;

anthers brown, 1 mm.

perianth bristles absent;

stamens 3;

anthers dark yellow, 1–1.5 mm;

styles 3-fid.

falling with scales, obovoid, angles keeled, 0.8–1 × 0.7–0.8 mm, apex with short neck.

falling with scales, medium to dark brown, obovoid to obpyriform, with short neck, thickly trigonous, angles prominent (keeled), 0.7–0.9 × 0.4–0.6 mm, obscurely to clearly rugulose at 10–20X with more than 20 horizontal ridges in vertical series and/or minutely cancellate at 20–30X.

whitish to brown, mammillate to pyramidal, 0.2–0.3 × 0.3–0.35 mm, 1/3 or less as wide as achene.

brown, rudimentary, mostly apiculate, sometimes pyramidal, 0.05–0.15 × 0.15–0.2 mm.