Flora of North America species comparison

spreading to erect, leafy, obtusely triangular.

slender, ± filiform, leafy, terete to bluntly trigonous.

often exceeding inflorescences;

blades narrowly linear, proximally flat, 1–3 mm wide, apex trigonous, tapering.

shorter than culm;

blades spreading to ascending, ± filiform, proximally flat, 0.5–1(–1.5) mm, apex tapering, trigonous.

terminal and axillary, clusters of 1–5 corymbs; leafy bracts much exceeding corymbs.

spikelet clusters 1–3, loose to dense, widely spaced to close together, turbinate to hemispheric; leafy bracts setaceous, mostly exceeding spikelet clusters.

few to several, on ascending, stiff, short-to-elongate branches, red-brown to brown, lanceoloid, (5–)6–10 mm, apex acuminate;

fertile scales many, ovate, shallowly convex, 5 mm, apex acuminate;

midrib short-excurrent or not.

dark redbrown, lanceovoid, 2.5–3.5(–4) mm, apex acute;

fertile scales ovate, 2–3.5 mm, apex acute or acuminate, rarely minutely awned.

perianth absent.

bristles 6, of various length, mostly extending from fruit midbody to tubercle base, antrorsely barbellate.

1.5 mm;

body dark brown to black, tumidly lenticular, nearly orbicular, 0.8–0.9 × 0.6–0.7 mm, margins grooved, discontinuous with tubercle;

surfaces transversely wavyrugose, ridges of contiguous rows of vertical, linear, raised cells;

tubercle broad, low triangular, 0.2–0.3 mm, crustaceous, base capping fruit summit, raised at ends, apex shortacuminate.

1–2 per spikelet, (2–)2–2.5 mm;

body brown with pale center, lenticular, broadly ellipsoid, 1.5–1.7 × 1.2–1.3 mm, surfaces nearly smooth or very finely cancellate;

tubercle flat, triangular with short-oblong, blunttipped nose, or triangularsubulate, 0.5–0.8 mm.