Flora of North America species comparison

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

lax, filiform, leafy.

ascending to spreading, overtopped by scape;

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

spreading to ascending, exceeding or exceeded by culm;

blades 0.2–0.3 mm wide, margins strongly involute or channeled, apex trigonous, tapering, setaceous.

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.

cluster of cymes 1–2, widely spaced, turbinate, sparse;

branches few; foliaceous bracts setaceous, longer than cymes.

white, ovoid, 5–7 mm;

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

brown, lanceovoid to fusiform, 2.5–3 mm, apex acuminate;

fertile scales ovate, 1.5 mm, apex acute, midrib shortexcurrent.

perianth absent.

perianth absent.

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.

0.9–1 mm;

body lustrous pale brown, ellipsoidlenticular, 0.8–0.9 × 0.5–0.6 mm, margins narrow, wirelike;

surfaces minutely reticulate;

bristles 4–6, the longest from shorter than fruit midbody to fully as long, rarely reaching tubercle tip, minutely antrorsely barbellate;

tubercle shortconic, to 0.15 mm.

= 12.