Flora of North America species comparison

terete or obtusely trigonous, 30–80 cm × 1–5 mm, soft to hard, not septate-nodulose, internally spongy, transverse septa incomplete;

plants never forming filiform, flaccid culms.

often arching, often sering as stolons, broadly elliptic, (4–)7–38(–45) cm × (0.1–)0.3–0.7 mm, soft to firm.

distal leaf sheaths persistent, membranous, apex acute to acuminate, often prolonged into a slender awn to 4 mm.

distal leaf sheaths persistent or disintegrating, yellowish to pale brown, sometimes mottled or wholly red-brown, membranaous to papery, apex acute to narrowly obtuse.

not proliferous, 14–54 × 3–5.6 mm;

rachilla joints without winglike remnants of floral scales;

proximal scale empty, amplexicaulous, 2.5–4.9 mm;

floral scales 40–180, 2–3 per mm of rachilla, stramineous to pale brown, flanks sometimes minutely dotted reddish, usually with pale to dark brown, reddish, or purplish submarginal band, obovate to suborbicular, widest in middle, 3.4–4.5(–6) × 3–4.8 mm, cartilaginous, membranous toward margins, margins broadly translucent, membranous, apex rounded.

basal spikelets absent; usually proliferous, ovoid to ellipsoid to linear or terete, 3.3–9.6 × 1.2–2.3 mm, apex acute;

proximal scale empty, persistent, amplexicaulous, similar to floral scales (usually slightly longer, midrib broadly green);

subproximal scale with a flower;

floral scales spiraled, 5–25, 4–8 per mm of rachilla, pale brown, usually spotted, streaked or mottled red-brown to purple, midribs green or green and red-brown, elliptic to obovate, 1.8–2.7 × 1–1.5 mm, membranous to chartaceous (papery), midrib evident to prominent, apex rounded to obtuse.

perianth bristles 6–7, medium brown to pale brown or reddish, slender, proximally slightly flattened, subequal to unequal, mostly exceeding achene, 2–3.4 mm, smooth or sometimes finely retrorsely spinulose;

anthers reddish brown, 1.7–2.5 mm;

styles 3-fid.

perianth bristles 5–6, red-brown (proximally often white), shorter than to equaling tubercle, rarely longer, 0.9–1.3(–2) mm;

spinules sparse, retrorse, sharply acute;

stamens 3;

anthers yellow, 0.8–1.8 mm;

styles 3-fid.

brown, biconvex, obpyriform, 2.2–2.8 × 1.3–1.9 mm, markedly sculptured at 10–15X, each face with (17–)20–24 rows of isodiametric to slightly transversely elongated cells, apex narrowed to a stout, often pale, spongy region 0.8–1.1 mm wide at base, 1/2–3/4 of achene width.

gray or greenish, obovoid or obpyriform, trigonous, angles very prominent, 0.6–0.9 × 0.55–0.8 mm, apex constricted proximal to tubercle, finely honeycomb-reticulate at 10–20X, each face with 20 or more rows of evident enlarged cells.

dark brown, lamelliform to pyramidal, 0.1–0.5 × 0.2–0.5 mm.

whitish, gray, brown, or greenish black, pyramidal, trigonous, 0.2–0.5 × 0.4–0.5 mm.