Flora of North America species comparison

often ascending or spreading, 4-angled or sometimes terete, sometimes sulcate, 1–7 cm × 0.2–0.3 mm, soft to firm.

terete, 45–100 cm × (3.2–)5–9.4 mm, soft to firm, sometimes septate-nodulose proximally, not distally, internally hollow with complete transverse septa, closer together near the spikelet, evident externally;

plants never forming filiform, flaccid culms.

sheaths stramineous, distal sheaths often splitting abaxially, slightly inflated distally, oblique, apex acute.

distal leaf sheaths persistent, membranous to thinly papery, apex acute to acuminate.

ovoid, 1.5–4 × 0.8–2 mm, apex acute;

floral scales 4–15, 8 per mm of rachilla, colorless or reddish brown, midrib region green, ovate-lanceolate, not folded lengthwise, 1–1.5 × 0.5–0.7 mm, mibrib obscure to somewhat keeled, apex narrowly acute to acuminate, slightly recurved.

not proliferous, (20–)40–62 × 4–7 mm;

rachilla joints bearing prominent wing-like remnants of floral scales;

proximal scale empty, amplexicaulous, (3–)3.5–5 mm;

floral scales 115–220, 1–3 per mm of rachilla, stramineous to pale brown, usually with pale to dark brown submarginal band, midrib region sometimes greenish, obovate to broadly oblong, (4–)4.5–5 × 2.8–4 mm, cartilaginous, often membranous toward margins, margins broadly translucent, membranous, apex rounded to subacute.

perianth bristles absent;

anthers 0.3–0.5 mm.

perianth bristles 6–8, stramineous, stout, flattened, subequal, exceeding achene, to 2.9 mm, coarsely spinulose;

anthers stramineous to reddish, 2.5–5 mm;

styles 2-fid or 3-fid.

with angles and longitudinal ridges ca. 6–10, rather prominent, broadly ovoid, less than 2 times longer then wide, (0.55–)0.65–0.75 × 0.3–0.4 mm, apex blunt, trabeculae distinct, 20–30.

stramineous to golden-yellow or reddish brown or gray, obovoid to obpyriform, biconvex or nearly plano-convex, often with abaxial longitudinal ridge, 1.4–1.8(–2) × 1.1–1.4 mm, markedly sculptured at 10–15X, each face with 23–37 rows of transversely elongated cells, the longitudinal walls separating the cells often prominent, apex with short neck 0.7–0.8 mm wide.

grayish, mostly appressed, pyramidal, often depressed, 0.1–0.2 × 0.1–0.25 mm.

dark brown, lamelliform, slightly higher than wide, 0.7–1.1 × 0.5–0.7 mm.