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.

polystichous, spreading to ascending, to 1/2 length of culms or longer;

sheaths entire or ciliate distally, backs hirtellous;

ligule absent;

blades linear-filiform, 0.5 mm wide, flat or involute, scabridciliate, often abaxially hirtellous.

terminal;

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

scapes filiform;

involucral bracts leafy, setaceous, greatly overtopping inflorescence.

anthelae simple or compound, mostly open, ascending-branched, mostly longer than broad;

scapes filiform, 0.5 mm wide, distally compressed, mostly glabrous;

longer involucral bracts leafy, equaling or exceeded by 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.

greenish brown or brownish, lanceoloid or narrowly ellipsoid-cylindric, 4–5 mm;

fertile scales ovate, acute, glabrous, midrib excurrent as slender, excurved cusp.

stamens 1;

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

stamens 1;

styles 2-fid, slender, base flat, long-fimbriate, hairs recurved over achene summit.

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

pale brown, lenticular, obovoid, 0.9 mm, smooth or very finely reticulate.

= 20.