Flora of North America species comparison

erect or ascending, leafy, trigonous.

erect to excurved, leafy, obscurely trigonous, slender.

exceeded by culm;

blades linear, proximally 4–7 mm wide, apex trigonous, tapering.

spreading to ascending, shorter than culm, crowded toward culm base;

blades linear, proximally flat, 1–3 mm wide, gradually involute, apically trigonous, subulate.

terminal and axillary;

clusters 3–6, mostly dense, narrowly to broadly turbinate, branches ascending; leafy bracts exceeeding proximalmost inflorescences.

spikelet clusters 1–4, dense to open, mostly irregularly turbinate;

peduncles ascending, branches spreading to erect, ultimate branches with many spikelets; leafy bracts setaceoustipped, usually exceeding all clusters, or at least all but the distal.

rich brown, ovoid, (3–)4–5 mm, apex acuminate;

fertile scales ovate, 2.5–3.5 mm, apex acuminate, midrib included or shortexcurrent.

light redbrown or brown, broadly ellipsoid to lanceoloid, 3–4 mm, apex acute to acuminate;

fertile scales ovate to obovate or suborbiculate, 2–3.5 mm apex acute to rounded or emarginate, midrib included or exserted as mucro.

perianth bristles mostly 6, exceeding tubercle tip.

perianth bristles mostly 6, rarely reaching fruit midbody, antrorsely barbellate.

mostly 3–4 per spikelet, 2–2.2 mm;

body brown on short pedicellar (to 0.3 mm) stalk, broadly obovoid, lenticular, 1.3–1.5 × 1–1.5 mm, surfaces transversely rugulose, vertically finely striate and rectangularalveolate;

tubercle compressed, triangular acuminate, 0.5–0.8 mm, edges setulose.

mostly 1 per spikelet, 2–2.5 mm, body dark brown, obovoid to subglobose, tumid or lenticular, 1.5–1.7 mm, transversely finely rugose to nearly level, intervals with very small, pitlike alveoli.