Flora of North America species comparison

2–20 cm × 0.2–0.3 mm.

terete.

sheaths green to stramineous;

distal blade mostly much longer than sheath, to 3 cm × 0.2 mm.

all basal;

sheaths green to stramineous, sometimes reddish proximally;

ligules absent;

blades rudimentary to exceeding culms.

involucral bract 1, 3–10(–25) mm, rarely a second bract to 5 mm.

terminal, sometimes pseudolateral, capitate or solitary spikelet;

spikelets 1–3(–15);

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

2–8 × 1–1.5 mm;

scales colorless, stramineous, or pale greenish, markedly gibbous, veinless or obscurely 3–7-veined, midrib keeled, finely reticulate at 40X, membranous, hyaline, apex rounded, mucronate, or awned;

proximal scale to 1.5(–5) mm, awn to 3 mm;

other scales 1–1.2 mm, apex, mucro 0.1 mm.

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

anthers 0.2 mm;

styles 3-fid.

bisexual;

perianth absent;

stamens 1–3;

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

often falling with and clasped by floral scales, whitish (or orange-brown when unripe), broadly ellipsoid to obovoid or outline subcircular, nearly equilaterally trigonous, faces convex, 0.7–0.9 × 0.5–0.6 mm, minutely papillose at 40X, papillae in many vertical rows or usually obscured by thick whitish surface layer.

biconvex or trigonous, papillose or longitudinally ribbed.