Flora of North America species comparison

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

5-60 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.

pilose;

ligules 0.5-1 mm, hairy, obtuse;

blades 3-13 cm long, 2-4 mm wide.

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.

2-10 cm long, 1.5-3 cm wide, erect, contracted or loose;

branches shorter than the spikelets, ascending, 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.

6-15 mm, lanceolate, shiny, terete to moderately laterally compressed;

florets 5-12, bases concealed at maturity;

rachilla internodes concealed 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 4-4.6 mm, 3-5-veined;

upper glumes 5.2-5.4 mm, 7-veined;

lemmas 4.5-6.5 mm long, 1.5-1.7 mm wide, elliptic, glabrous, distinctly 7-veined, rounded over the midvein, margins broadly hyaline, sharply angled, not inrolled at maturity, apices notched, notch at least 0.6 mm deep;

awns 2-6 mm, straight, arising from the base of the apical notch but less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;

anthers 0.5-2 mm.

longer than the paleas, thin, weakly inrolled or flat.

= 42.

= 28.