Flora of North America species comparison

erect to arching or spreading, leafy, ± filiform, ± terete, stiff to rather lax.

erect to arching, leafy, linear to filiform, nearly triangular.

exceeded by culm;

blades linearfiliform, proximally shallowly concave, 1 mm, apex tapering, trigonous, blunt or broadly acute.

ascending, overtopped by culm;

blades flat, linear to filiform, to 1.8 mm wide, apex distally involute, trigonous, setaceous.

spikelet clusters 1–2, mostly compact, turbinate to hemispheric; leafy bracts setaceous, exceeding spikelet clusters.

terminal and axillary, spikelet clusters 2–4, widely spaced, the lowest near plant base;

clusters compact, broadly turbinate to hemispheric, to 1.5 cm wide; leafy bracts curved, setaceous, slightly to greatly overtopping subtended compounds.

dark redbrown, ovoid, 2–3 mm, apex acute;

fertile scales obovate, 1.5–1.7(–2) mm, apex broadly rounded or retuse, midrib excurrent as cusp or mucro to 0.5 mm.

dark brown, lance-ellipsoid, 2–3 mm;

fertile scales 2 mm, apex acute, midrib short-excurrent or not.

bristles 6 or vestigial, rarely reaching fruit midbody, antrorsely barbellate.

perianth bristles 6, ± as long as fruit body, retrorsely barbellate.

1–2 per spikelet,1.7–2 mm;

body brown with large pale center, lenticular, broadly obovoid to ± orbicular, 1.2–1.5 × 1.4–1.6 mm;

tubercle flat, triangular, concave-sided, 0.4–0.6 mm, sometimes apiculate.

mostly 2 per spikelet, 1.5–1.9 mm;

body brown with yellowish center, ellipsoid, lenticular distal to short stipe, 1–1.3 × 0.6–0.8 mm;

tubercle triangular, 0.3–0.6 mm, distinctly shorter than fruit body.