Flora of North America species comparison

4–40 cm × 0.2–0.5 mm.

terete.

sometimes sparsely orange-punctate at 10–15X;

sheaths usually reddish proximally;

distal blade rudimentary to much longer than sheath, often exceeding culm, to 20 cm × 0.2–1 mm.

all basal;

sheaths green to stramineous, sometimes reddish proximally;

ligules absent;

blades rudimentary to exceeding culms.

involucral bract 1, sometimes subtending flower or resembling enlarged floral scale, 2–6(–23) mm.

terminal, sometimes pseudolateral, capitate or solitary spikelet;

spikelets 1–3(–15);

involucral bracts 1(–2), spreading to erect, like foliage leaf blades.

2–5 × 1–2 mm;

scales partly or completely dark orange to red-brown, rarely stramineous, midrib greenish to stramineous, not gibbous, obscurely to prominently 3–11-veined, midrib keeled near apex, membranous, hyaline, apex rounded to acute, with mucro less than 0.1 mm;

proximal scale to 2 mm;

other scales 1.2–1.8 × 1–1.3 mm.

scales 8–25, spirally arranged, each subtending flower.

anthers 0.3–0.6 mm;

styles 3-fid or 3-fid and 2-fid.

bisexual;

perianth absent;

stamens 1–3;

styles linear, 2–3-fid, base persistent, sometimes slightly enlarged.

falling separately from scales, medium to dark brown or stramineous, ellipsoid to obovoid, compressed-trigonous to thickly biconvex, lateral angles usually prominent, abaxial angle prominent to obscure, faces convex or adaxial face slightly concave, 0.8–1 × 0.5–0.7 mm, distinctly papillose at 10–15X to obscurely papillose at 40X, often with thin whitish surface layer.

biconvex or trigonous, papillose or longitudinally ribbed.

= 30.