Flora of North America species comparison

ascending, quadrangular, sulcate (not sulcate in Eleocharis sp.

distal leaf sheaths persistent or fugaceous, pale brown or green, sometimes streaked red-brown, membranous to translucent, apex acute to acuminate.

2–4 × 1–2 mm, sometimes absent in deeper water;

proximal scale 1/2 or more of spikelet length;

floral scales 6–10 per spikelet, 1.4–2.7 mm, commonly entirely stramineous, apex rounded to subacute.

basal spikelets absent; often proliferous, ellipsoid to ovoid, terete, 2–10.5 × 1–2.8 mm, apex acute;

proximal scale empty, persistent, amplexicaulous, dissimilar to floral scales, slightly longer, often resembling an involucral bract, elliptic or lanceolate, 1.4–2.7 × 0.8–1.2 mm, apex rounded, midrib markedly thickened and broad;

subproximal scale with a flower;

floral scales spiraled, 13–76, 9–13 per mm of rachilla, colorless or pale brown, streaked or mottled pale brown to red-brown, midribs sometimes green, ovate, elliptic, or obovate, 0.8–2.2 × 0.5–1 mm, papery or membranous, midrib evident to prominent, apex rounded.

perianth bristles 6, stramineous, fairly stout to slender, usually equaling achene to slightly exceeding tubercle, sometimes unequal and some 1/2 of achene, very rarely rudimentary, minutely retrorsely spinulose;

anthers 0.7–1.2 mm.

perianth bristles 5–6 or absent, appressed to achene, white, vestigial to shorter than achene, to 0.3 mm;

spinules not evident at 45X;

stamens 2–3;

anthers 0.2–0.45 mm;

styles 3-fid.

stramineous, sometimes pale brown, obovoid to obpyriform, thickly trigonous, angles distinct, faces concave to plane, rarely convex, 0.9–1.2 × 0.55–0.75 mm, apex tapered, smooth or faintly rough at 30X.

grayish to pale olive or yellowish, often minutely brown-spotted, obovoid, trigonous, angles prominent, 0.45–0.8 × 0.3–0.55 mm, apex constricted proximal to tubercle, smooth or finely pitted at 30X.

terminating rhizomes usually markedly J- or horseshoe-shaped, body (apart from apical bud) oblong, 2–2.5(–5) × 0.5–1 mm;

tubers among culm bases straight, narrowly fusiform, 4–5 mm.

0.1–0.2 × 0.15 mm.

gray, green, or yellowish, birettaform, trigonous, 0.05–0.1 × 0.15–0.3 mm.

.

), 7–37 cm × 0.2–0.6 mm, soft to firm.

= 10 (Europe).

= 10.