Flora of North America species comparison

erect to curved, leafy, obscurely trigonous to nearly terete, few ribbed, slender.

lax, leafy toward base, filiform, ± terete.

ascending, exceeded by culm;

blades filiform, to 0.5 mm, margins mostly involute, apex trigonous, tapering.

clusters 1 or 2–3, then widely spaced, narrowly turbinate to hemispheric, 1.5–2.5 cm wide; subtending leafy bracts often exceeded by distal cluster.

mostly lax cymes or clusters of cymes, 1–2, sparse, turbinate, branches capillary; leafy bracts setaceous, exceeding proximal cymes, shorter than, equaling or slightly exceeding distal cymes.

pale brown to nearly white, ellipsoid, 3.5–5.5 mm, apex acute;

fertile scales elliptic, 3–3.5(–4) mm, apex acute or acuminate, midrib excurrent as mucro.

redbrown, fusiformlanceoloid, 5 mm, apex acute;

fertile scales lanceolate, 3.5–4.5 mm, apex acute or acuminate, midrib included or shortexcurrent.

perianth bristles 10–12, slightly overtopping tubercle, retrorsely barbellate or rarely smooth, base often setose.

perianth bristles 6, exceeding tubercle base, antrorsely barbellate, basally setose.

1(–2) per spikelet, (2.3–)2.5–3 mm;

body pale brown with paler center, stipitateobovoid, lenticular, 1.5–1.8(–2) × 0.9–1.2 mm;

surfaces transversely striate, relatively smooth, rim narrow, flowing to tubercle base;

tubercle narrowly triangularsubulate, 0.5–1.2 mm.

1 per spikelet, 2.8–3 mm;

body pale brown, obovoidpyriform, tumidly lenticular, 1.5–1 × 1 mm;

surfaces transversely wavyrugose, intervals vertically striate with narrow, raised alveolae;

tubercle flat, narrowly triangular-subulate, (0.8–)1–1.5 mm.

leaves mostly overtopped by culm;

blades narrowly linear to filiform, proximally flat, 0.5–1.5 mm, apex tapering, trigonous.