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1 Plants 1-3 m tall, coarse, from short rhizomes, forming dense tussocks; leaves 3-15 dm long, 5-12 mm wide, stiff and flat (or broadly V-shaped), the margins and midrib (beneath) harshly serrate (saw-toothed); inflorescence a narrow panicle 3-9 dm long, the branches bearing several fascicles of spikelets; achene base broadly rounded to truncate; [of tidal freshwater to brackish marshes, outer Coastal Plain calcareous savannas, freshwater marshes over limestone].
..2 Spikelets in clusters of 3-6; culms 1-2 m tall; inflorescences generally with only 3 orders of branching; [Edwards Plateau and immediately adjacent limestone areas, westwards and southwestwards]
..2 Spikelets mostly in clusters of 2-3 (-6); culms 1-3 m tall; inflorescences often with 4th order branching; [Coastal Plain, usually in coastal tidal marshes or inland but near-coastal over oolite or limesone]