Flora of North America species comparison

erect to excurved, leafy, obscurely trigonous, slender.

arching, leafy, droopingtipped, ± terete, ribbed, slender.

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

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

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.

clusters of spikelets 3–6, progressively wider-spaced proximally, narrow, elongate; leafy bracts slender, mostly exceeding clusters.

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.

redbrown, lanceoloid, 5–7 mm, apex acuminate;

fertile scales narrowly ovate, 4–5 mm, apex acuminate, midrib included or shortexcurrent.

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

perianth bristles 6, exceeding tubercle, antrorsely barbellate.

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.

(1–)2–3(–4) per spikelet, 3–3.2 mm;

body brown, narrowly oblong-ellipsoid, flattened, 2 × 0.8–1 mm;

surface strongly transversely wavyrugose, vertically finely striate between ridges;

tubercle compressed, narrowly triangular-subulate, 1 mm.

leaves exceeded by culm;

blades spreading to ascending, narrowly linear, proximally flat, 2–3.5 mm wide, apex trigonous, tapering.