Flora of North America species comparison

ascending-excurved, leafy, ± terete, slender.

erect to arching-ascending, leafy, wand-like.

ascending, overtopped by culm;

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

mostly basal, few and increasingly distant upculm, shorter than scape;

blades narrowly linear, concave proximally, (1–)2–3 mm wide, tapering and increasingly involute-sulcate proximally, margins scabrid, apex triquetrous, tip narrow but blunt.

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.

clusters 1(–2), if 2 then close together, dense, broadly turbinate to hemispheric;

primary leafy bracts linear, stiff, exceeding clusters.

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 lanceoloid, 8–10 mm, apex acuminate;

fertile scales lanceolate, convex, (6–)7–8 mm, apex narrowly acute, low midrib short-excurrent or not.

perianth bristles 6, reaching at most 2/3 length of fruit body, antrorsely barbellate.

perianth bristles 6, excurved, plumose from base to midbristle, 5–7.5 mm, antrorsely barbellate to tip.

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.

1–2 per spikelet, 2.3–2.6 × 1.1–1.2 mm;

body brown, short-stipitate, tumidly obovoid, subterete, 1.8–2 mm, margin low, broad;

surfaces interruptedly transversely wavy-rugulose;

tubercle broadly and concavely conic, 0.5–0.7 mm high, base shallowly 2-lobed, discoid, abruptly narrowed to blunt tip.