Flora of North America species comparison

often arching, sometimes spotted or streaked red-brown, quadrangular or broadly elliptic, sulcate or not, 0.5–25(–30) cm × 0.1–0.4 mm, soft.

markedly arched, not spirally twisted, not contracted near spikelet, when dry usually with several blunt to acute ridges and sulcate, subterete to slightly compressed, to 2 times as wide as thick, 5–15 cm × 0.5–1 mm, firm to hard;

culm tufts not proximally bulbous.

distal leaf sheaths persistent or disintegrating, stramineous, green, red-brown, or spotted or streaked red-brown, membranous, translucent, apex obtuse or acute.

distal leaf sheaths brown to reddish proximally, stramineous to reddish distally, apex sometimes reddish, membranous to papery.

basal spikelets usually present, pistillate; often proliferous, ovoid, ellipsoid, or linear, clearly laterally compressed, 2.3–6.9 × 0.5–2 mm, apex acute, proximal scale empty, amplexicaulous, similar to floral scales (midribs sometimes more prominent and sometimes slightly prolonged beyond lamina);

subproximal scale with a flower;

floral scales clearly distichous, 3–9, 3–4 per mm of rachilla, yellowish, pale brown, or red-brown, spotted, streaked, or mottled red-brown, narrowly ovate to oblong, (1.5–)2–5 × 0.4–0.6(–1.2) mm, membranous, apex rounded, obtuse or rarely acute, midribs keeled.

3–6 × 2–4 mm;

proximal scale empty, 2.5–4 mm, 1/2 or more as long as spikelet;

floral scales 4–9 per spikelet, 3.5–5 × 2 mm.

perianth bristles 3–7, incurved, colorless, white, or red-brown, shorter than or equaling achene;

spinules sparse, retrorse, sharply acute;

stamens 3;

anthers 1.4–2.2 mm;

styles 3-fid.

perianth bristles 4–7, very unequal, some shorter than 1/2 of achene, stout and smooth, others equaling or exceeding tubercle, very slender and densely spinulose;

anthers 1–1.5 mm.

whitish or greenish, spotted dark green, obovoid, trigonous, angles prominent, 0.6–0.9 × 0.4–0.6 mm, apex constricted proximal to tubercle, smooth to finely cancellate at 10–20X.

medium brown, equilaterally trigonous to compressed trigonous or some biconvex, 1.5–2.1 × 0.9–1.2 mm, beak 0.2–0.3 × 0.3–0.4 mm.

pale to red-brown, pyramidal, trigonous, 0.2–0.3(–0.4) × 0.2–0.5 mm.

0.25–0.5 × 0.15–0.2 mm.