Flora of North America species comparison

erect to excurved, leafy, obscurely trigonous, slender.

erect or ascending, leafy, nearly terete or obscurely angular, many-ribbed, stiff.

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

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

exceeding or exceeded by inflorescences;

blades linear, proximally flat, 1–5 mm wide, apex trigonous, tapering.

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, clusters of corymbs 1–5, diffuse, branches ascending to divaricate; leafy bracts much exceeding axillary corymbs.

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 to dark brown, ovoidlanceoloid, 3–6(–7) mm, apex acute;

fertile scales several, narrowly ovate, 2.5–3.5 mm, apex narrowly acute;

midrib included or shortexcurrent.

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

perianth absent.

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.

1.3–1.5 mm;

body brown to blackish, tumidly lenticular, nearly orbicular, 0.6–1 × 0.6–1 mm, margins distinct, narrow, flowing into base of tubercle;

tubercle flat, narrowly triangular, at least 0.5 mm high, base broadly 2-lobed, apex acuminate.