Flora of North America species comparison

erect to ascending, leafy, stiff.

shorter than scape;

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

exceeded by culm;

blades lax, linear, proximally flat, 3–5 mm wide, apex abruptly narrowed, trigonous, subulate.

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

primary leafy bract linear, stiff, exceeding clusters.

spikelet clusters 4–6, mostly widely spaced;

peduncles erect or ascending, slender;

branches capillary, divaricate, or widely spreading, to small clusters of 1–few spikelets; leafy bracts mostly exceeding 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.

lanceovoid, 3–4(–6) mm, apex acute to acuminate;

fertile scales elliptic, 2.5 mm, apex acute, midrib forming mucro or awn.

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

perianth bristles 6, overtopping tubercle, 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.

mostly 2–4(–several) per spikelet, (1.5–)1.8–2(–2.1);

body greenish or pale brown, broadly ellipsoid to narrowly obovoid, lenticular, 1.2–1.5 × 1–1.2 mm;

surfaces transversely finely wavy-rugulose, intervals vertically striatealveolate, or alveolae isodiametric;

tubercle flat, triangular-subulate, 0.5–0.6(–0.8) mm.