Flora of North America species comparison

erect to ascending, leafy, stiff.

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

shorter than scape;

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

overtopped by culms;

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

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

primary leafy bract linear, stiff, exceeding clusters.

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

peduncles and branches ascending; leafy bracts exceeding proximal clusters.

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 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.

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

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

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.

1–2 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.