Flora of North America species comparison

7.5-80 cm.

5-100 cm, usually erect, unbranched;

internodes hollow;

nodes glabrous.

sometimes less than 1/2 as long as the internodes, open;

auricles absent;

ligules hyaline;

blades flat, usually erect.

evenly distributed;

sheaths 1/2-1/4 the length of the internodes, open to near the base, margins hyaline distally;

ligules 4-13 mm, sides sometimes decurrent, margins at the base sometimes encasing the culms, truncate to acute;

blades 5.5-12 cm long, 1-8(10) mm wide, slightly scabrous.

(2)4-14(18) cm long, to 11 cm wide;

pedicels 4-12 mm.

open panicles;

branches sparsely strigose, capillary, spikelets usually pendulous, some branches longer than 1 cm.

(2)3-4(7) mm, triangular to oval, with 4-7(13) florets.

pedicellate, pendulous, oval to triangular in side view, becoming light brown at maturity, laterally compressed but the glumes and lemmas with broadly rounded backs, glumes and florets strongly divergent from the rachillas, with 4-12(15) chartaceous florets, distal florets rudimentary;

rachillas glabrous, not prolonged beyond base of the distal floret;

disarticulation above the glumes and beneath the florets.

subequal, shorter than to longer than the adjacent lemmas, naviculate, faintly 3-7-veined, margins more or less membranous, apices obtuse, unawned;

calluses short, glabrous;

lemmas inflated, about as wide as long, with broadly rounded backs, similar in shape to the glumes but somewhat cordate, margins becoming hyaline, frequently splitting perpendicular to the midveins, unawned;

paleas shorter than the lemmas, scarious or chartaceous;

lodicules 2, joined or free, usually entire, sometimes toothed;

anthers 3;

ovaries glabrous.

2-2.5 mm;

upper glumes 2-3.5 mm;

lowermost lemmas 1.6-2 mm, frequently irregular in shape, becoming hyaline distally, glabrous, sometimes minutely scurfy, veins indistinct;

paleas about 1.5 mm, often minutely scurfy;

anthers 0.4-0.5 mm.

0.8-1 mm, ovoid.

shorter than the lemmas, concealed at maturity, usually falling with the lemma and palea, ovoid to obovoid;

hila round to elliptic, x = 5,7.

= 10, 14.