Flora of North America species comparison

erect to ascending, leafy, stiff.

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

shorter than scape;

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

mostly slightly exceeded by culm;

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

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

primary leafy bract linear, stiff, exceeding clusters.

terminal;

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

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

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.

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 bristles 6, reaching at least to tubercle base, plumose from base to more than 1/2 length of fruit body.

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

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.

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.