Flora of North America species comparison

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

erect to ascending, leafy, stiff.

ascending to spreading, overtopped by scape;

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

shorter than scape;

blades narrowly linear, (1–)2–3 mm wide, margins involute, apex trigonous, tapering.

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.

clusters 1–2, if 2 then close together, dense, broadly turbinate to hemispheric or lobedglobose;

primary leafy bract linear, stiff, exceeding clusters.

white, ovoid, 5–7 mm;

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

light to dark redbrown, lanceovoid, 3.5–6 mm, apex acuminate;

fertile scales ovate, convex, 3–3.5(–4) mm, apex acuminate, low midrib excurrent or not.

perianth absent.

perianth bristles 6, reaching at least to tubercle base, plumose from base to more than 1/2 length of 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(–2) per spikelet, (2–)2.5–2.8(–3) mm;

body redbrown or brown, tumidly obovoid, (1.5–)2–2.2 × 1–1.7 mm;

surfaces interruptedly transversely rugulose;

tubercle broadly conic, 0.5–0.8(–1) mm, base broadly 2lobed, apex often apiculate.

= 12.