Flora of North America species comparison

lax,filiform, leafy, terete, grooved.

erect to excurved, lax, filiform, leafy, ± terete.

ascending to erect, exceeded by culm, blades lax, filiform, margins proximally deeply involute, apex trigonous, tapering.

exceeded by culm, ascending;

blades filiform, ± terete, margins strongly involute, apex trigonous, sulcate, tapering.

mostly cymose clusters, simple or compound, 1–3(–4), widely spaced, loose, narrowly to broadly turbinate;, branchies capillary, ascending to spreading, leafy bracts setaceous, exceeded by or exceeding cymes.

spikelet clusters mostly 2–3, sparse to dense, oblong to broadly or narrowly turbinate; leafy bracts setaceous, exceeding clusters.

light redbrown or brown, lanceovoid to fusiform, 3–4(–4.5) mm, apex acuminate, fertile scales ovate, mostly 2–3 mm, apex rounded to acute, midrib included or shortexcurrent.

pale redbrown, lanceoloid, 3–3.5 mm, apex acute;

fertile scales mostly elliptic, 2–2.5 mm, apex acute, sometimes apiculate.

perianth bristles mostly 6, unequal, rarely extending past fruit midbody, antrorsely barbellate.

bristles mere nubs or 1–2, to 0.3 mm.

1–4 per spikelet, 1.8–2 mm, body yellowbrown to brown, lustrous, tumidly obovoidlenticular, 1–1.5 × 1–1.5 mm, surfaces transversely wavyrugose, intervals vertically striate with narrow alveolae, tubercle flat, triangular, 0.3–0.6 mm.

mostly 2 per spikelet, 1.5–1.6 mm;

body redbrown with pale center, lenticular, broadly obovoid to orbicular, margins pale, narrow, flowing to tubercle;

surfaces smoothish, or faintly cancellate;

tubercle flattened, triangularsubulate, 0.3–0.5 mm.