Flora of North America species comparison

erect to arching, leafy, trigonous, slender, firm.

erect or excurved, mostly filiform, leafy proximal to midculm, obtuse-angled to subterete, wiry.

overtopped by culms;

blades linear, proximally flat, 3–7 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering.

overtopped by culm;

blades narrowly linear, proximally flat, 1–2 mm wide, distally tapering-triquetrous.

spikelet clusters 2–6, sparse, widely spaced, turbinate;

peduncles and branches ascending; leafy bracts exceeding proximal clusters.

spikelet clusters 2–3(–4), distant, narrowly turbinate to hemispheric, mostly shorter than subtending setaceous bract.

light redbrown, ovoid to ellipsoid, (4–)5–8(–9) mm, apex acute or acuminate;

fertile scales ovate, (5.5–)6–6.5(–7) mm, midrib included or shortexcurrent.

red-brown, lanceoloid, 2.5–3(–4) mm, apex acuminate;

fertile scale elliptic, 2–2.5 mm, acute, midrib excurrent as cusp or aristula.

perianth bristles 6(–8), mostly reaching from fruit midbody to tubercle base, antrorsely barbellate.

bristles 6, reaching tubercle tip or beyond, antrorsely barbellate, base setose.

1–2 per spikelet, (3.5–)4–5 mm;

body dark brown to mahogany or nearly black, broadly obovoid, tumid, nearly smooth, buttressed to tubercle;

tubercle lowconic, rimmed, 0.7(–1) mm, apex apiculate.

2–4 per spikelet, 1.5–1.7 mm, on setose pedicellar joint 0.2 mm, body with faces red-brown with pale glassy center, decurrent tubercle base;

surfaces smooth;

turbercle concavely triangular, 0.4–0.6 mm, setulose-ciliate.