Flora of North America species comparison

polystichous, mostly spreading or excurved, often exceeding culms;

sheaths entire, abaxially smooth or sparsely hirtellous;

ligule absent;

blades filiform, to 0.5 mm wide, somewhat involute, abaxially glabrous or ascending-strigillose.

nearly distichous, ascending, 1/2–3/4 length of culms;

sheath margins ciliolate, adaxial surface sparsely to copiously hirtellous distally;

ligule present, complete;

blades narrowly linear, 2–4(–5) mm wide, flat to shallowly involute, margins ciliate-scabrid, abaxial surface pilose-hirsute.

terminal;

spikelets sessile or subsessile in single capitate leafy-involucrate cluster;

scapes filiform;

involucral bracts leafy, setaceous, greatly overtopping inflorescence.

anthelae compound, ascending-branched, longer than broad;

scapes distally oval or flattened, glabrous to pubescent;

longest involucral bract exceeding anthela.

greenish, cylindric to lanceoloid-cylindric, 5–10 mm;

fertile scales narrowly ovate to lanceolate, 1–1.5 mm, acute, glabrous, midrib strong, excurrent as cusp.

rusty brown, lanceoloid, 4–6 mm;

fertile scales broadly ovate to nearly orbiculate, 2–3 mm, broadly acute, midrib excurrent as mucro or cusp.

stamens 1;

styles 2-fid, slender, bulbous-based, smooth or papillate.

stamens 2;

styles 2-fid, flat, fimbriate.

pale, tumidly obovoid, 0.5–0.7 mm, cancellate, pits horizontally rectangular in 5–7 vertical rows per side.

pale to dark brown with pale umbo, lenticular-obpyriform, 1.7–2 mm, finely pitted, appearing nearly smooth, the pits in at least 20 narrow vertical rows per face.

= 20.

= 10.