Flora of North America species comparison

10-40 cm, highly branched above the base in age;

internodes glabrous or pubescent, sometimes nearly lanose.

15-65 cm, erect to spreading, often geniculate-based, sometimes nearly prostrate, usually much-branched.

cauline;

sheaths shorter than the internodes, glabrous or puberulent;

collars glabrous or pubescent at the sides;

ligules 0.5-1 mm;

blades usually less than 6 cm long, 0.5-1 mm wide, pale green, involute, glabrous or puberulent abaxially.

cauline;

sheaths shorter than the internodes, not disintegrating into threadlike fibers at maturity, glabrous or sparsely pilose, hairs on the throat sometimes to 5 mm;

collars glabrous;

ligules about 0.5 mm;

blades 5-14 cm long, 1-2 mm wide, flat to loosely involute, light green.

paniculate or racemose, 5-10 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, with few spikelets;

rachis nodes glabrous or with straight hairs;

primary branches 1-2 cm, appressed, without axillary pulvini.

usually paniculate, occasionally racemose or spicate, 6-22 cm long, 1-4(6) cm wide;

nodes glabrous or with straight hairs, hairs to 0.3 mm;

primary branches 1-4 cm, appressed to erect, rarely somewhat spreading distally, without axillary pulvini, with 2-5 spikelets per branch.

appressed.

widely spaced to crowded.

unequal, 1-2-veined;

lower glumes 4-10 mm;

upper glumes 7-15 mm;

calluses about 1 mm;

lemmas 5-7 mm, purple or mottled, junction of the lemma and awns evident;

awns twisted together basally into a 4-26 mm column, free portions 12-50 mm, those of the central and lateral awns similar in length, curved to arcuate basally, straight and divergent distally, disarticulating at the base of the column at maturity;

anthers 3, about 2 mm long.

2-11 mm, subequal, 1-veined, acuminate, unawned or awned, awns to 1 mm;

calluses less than 1 mm;

lemmas 2.5-10 mm, gray to dark purplish-brown, often horizontally banded or mottled, scabrous-hispid or glabrous, not beaked, apices only slightly narrowed, junction with the awns not evident;

awns usually unequal, terete and curving up to 100° at the base, erect to reflexed distally, not disarticulating at maturity;

central awns 1-27 mm;

lateral awns absent or to 18 mm, shorter than the central awns;

anthers 1 and 0.2-0.3 mm, or 3 and 3-4 mm.

3-4 mm, light brown.

= 22.

= unknown.