Flora of North America species comparison

arching or erect, leafy-based, distally wandlike, terete, multiribbed.

erect to excurved, filiform, leafy, stiff to lax.

ascending to spreading, overtopped by scape;

blades linear, proximally flat, 2.5–5 mm wide, apex subulate, trigonous.

mostly slightly exceeded by culm;

blades ± filiform, proximally flat to concave, distally tapering, to 1 mm wide, margins involute, apex trigonous, subulate.

terminal, headlike clusters of spikelets, clusters dense, leafy-involucrate;

involucral bracts several, spreading to downcurved, longest 6–13 cm × 5–10 mm, mostly white to midbract, then green, abruptly narrowly linear.

terminal;

spikelet clusters 1(–2), dense, broadly turbinate to hemispheric;

longer leafy bracts 1–2(–several), setaceous, overtopping inflorescence.

white, ovoid, 5–7 mm;

fertile scales boatshaped, sharply curved-keeled, 5 mm, apex acute.

light brown, narrowly ovoid, 2–2.5(–3) mm, apex acute or acuminate;

fertile scales 1.5–2(–2.5) mm, apex acute, midrib excurrent as cusp or awn 0.5–0.9 mm.

perianth absent.

bristles absent, rarely reduced to nubbins, or rarely 1, then shorter than fruit body.

several per spikelet, 1.5–2 mm;

body yellowish to deep brown, tumidly lenticular, broadly obovoid to orbicular or oblate, 1.5 mm, widest at or toward midbody, margins flowing to tubercle;

surfaces with many fine rows of vertical shallow lattices, their contiguous ends making transverse rows of papillae;

tubercle crescent-based, depressed-triangular, 0.5 mm, apex acute.

1 per spikelet, 1–1.8 mm;

body with dark brown ends, broad pale midzone, lenticular, ± orbicular, 1–1.2 × 0.8–1 mm, surfaces smooth;

margins sharp, flowing to tubercle;

tubercle lowtriangular, 0.2–0.3(–0.5) mm, sometimes apiculate.

= 12.