Flora of North America species comparison

erect to excurved, leafy, obscurely trigonous, slender.

stiffly erect, leafy, triangular, multiribbed.

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

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

ascending, overtopped by inflorescence;

blades flat proximally, 3–10(–15) mm wide, apex attenuate, trigonous.

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.

terminal and axillary, narrow, clusters of corymbs, clusters dense, mostly broadly turbinate, 13–15 mm;

bracteal leaves mostly exceeding subtended compounds.

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.

brown, lanceoloid, 13–15 mm, apex acuminate;

fertile scales lanceolate, 10–13 mm, apex acuminate, midrib shortexcurrent.

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

longer perianth bristles usually fully 2 times length of fruit body, 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 per spikelet, 20–25 mm;

body pyriformobovoid, compressed, 5–6 × 2.6–3.6 mm;

tubercle attenuate, 2-grooved, (15–)18–20(–21) mm.

= 18.