Flora of North America species comparison

30-120 cm tall, 2-4 mm thick, erect or decumbent.

80-110 cm, erect.

usually densely, often retrorsely, hairy, hairs sometimes confined to the throat;

auricles absent;

ligules 1-4 mm, glabrous or pilose, obtuse, lacerate to erose;

blades 4-30 cm long, 3-10 mm wide, flat, glabrous or hairy on both surfaces.

9-28 cm, usually open, erect or nodding;

lower branches shorter than 10 cm, 1-4 per node, spreading or ascending, with up to 5 spikelets variously distributed.

11-30 cm long, 4-20 cm wide, open, erect or nodding;

branches usually longer than the spikelets, ascending to widely spreading, slender, slightly curved or straight.

(17)20-40 mm, shorter than at least some pedicels and branches, elliptic to lanceolate, strongly laterally compressed, not crowded or overlapping, with 4-12 florets.

10-25 mm, lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, often purple-tinged;

florets 4-10, bases concealed or visible at maturity;

rachilla internodes concealed or visible at maturity.

smooth or scabrous, glabrous or pubescent;

lower glumes 7-12 mm, 5-7(9)-veined;

upper glumes 9-17 mm, 7-9(11)-veined, shorter than the lowest lemma;

lemmas 11-20 mm, lanceolate, laterally compressed, strongly keeled, usually glabrous, sometimes pubescent distally, smooth or scabrous, 9-13-veined, veins often raised and riblike, margins sometimes conspicuous, hyaline, whitish or partly purplish, apices entire or toothed, teeth acute, shorter than 1 mm;

awns absent or to 10 mm;

anthers 0.5-1 mm in cleistogamous florets, 2-5 mm in chasmogamous florets.

glabrous;

lower glumes 4-6 mm, 3-veined;

upper glumes 5-8 mm, 5-veined;

lemmas 7-9 mm long, 1.1-1.5 mm wide, lanceolate, obscurely 7-veined, rounded over the midvein, glabrous, coriaceous, margins slightly angled, inrolled or not at maturity, apices acute, bifid, teeth shorter than 1 mm;

awns 6-11 mm, straight, arising at varying distances below the lemma apices;

anthers 2.5-5 mm.

shorter than the paleas, weakly to strongly inrolled.

sheaths with dense, soft, appressed hairs;

ligules 1-1.5 mm, hairy, obtuse, erose;

blades 10-20 cm long, 2-6 mm wide, coarsely pilose on both surfaces.

= 42.

= 14.