Flora of North America species comparison

ascending-excurved, leafy, ± terete, slender.

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

ascending, overtopped by culm;

blades narrowly linear, proximally flat, 2–3 mm wide, 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.

spikelet clusters (1–)2–3, widely spaced, open to dense, broadly to narrowly turbinate, branches ascending to slightly spreading, capillary; leafy bracts setaceous-tipped, overtopping all but distal clusters.

terminal;

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

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

light red-brown, ovoid, 3.5–5 mm, apex acuminate;

fertile scales ovate, 2.5–3.5 mm, apex acute, midrib excurrent as cusp or mucro.

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 most 2/3 length of fruit body, antrorsely barbellate.

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

1–4(–5) per spikelet, 2 mm;

body brown, strongly compressed, obovoid-ellipsoid, 1.4–1.6 × 1–1.2 mm, margins flowing to tubercle;

surfaces finely transversely rugose, intervals with narrow vertical alveolae;

tubercle flat, low-triangular, 0.2–0.3(–0.5) mm.

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.