Flora of North America species comparison

erect to excurved, leafybased, filiform.

lax, erect to ascending-excurved, ± terete, leafy, slender, soft.

shorter than culm;

blades ascending to excurved, filiform, proximally to 1 mm wide, margins involute, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering.

exceeded by inflorescence;

blades erect or ascending, linear, proximally flat, 2–4 mm wide, apex trigonous, subulate, tapering.

spikelet clusters 1–3, laterals 0–2, turbinate, rarely hemispheric; leafy bracts setaceous, overtopping inflorescence.

spikelet clusters 4–6, widely spaced, loose, broadly to narrowly turbinate, paniculate, branches capillary, ultimate branches with 1 or 2 spikelets; leafy bracts exceeding proximal clusters, setaceous.

redbrown, narrowly lanceoloid, 5–7 mm, apex acute;

fertile scales lanceolate, 3.5–5 mm, apex acute, mucronate.

solitary or in 2s, brown, ovoid, 2.5–3.5 mm;

fertile scales ovate, 1.5–2.2 mm, apex acute, apiculate.

perianth absent.

perianth bristles 6, reaching tubercle base or slightly beyond, antrorsely barbellate.

2(–5) per spikelet, (1.7–)2–2.2 mm;

body on short, setulose receptacular stipe, brown with pale center, obovoidlenticular, 0.8–1.1 mm, surfaces very finely longitudinally lined, sometimes faintly reticulatecancellate;

tubercle triangular subulate, 0.7–0.9 mm, base lunate, edges setulose.

2–3 per spikelet, 1.5–1.6(–1.8) mm;

body brown or greenish, obovoid, lenticular, 1.1–1.2(–1.3) × 0.7–1 mm, margins narrow, distinct, sharp, flowing to tubercle;

surfaces finely transversely wavyrugulose, intervals of fine, nearly isodiametric or vertical-rectangular pitlike alveolae;

tubercle lowtriangular, entire, 0.3–0.4 mm.