Flora of North America species comparison

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

50-135 cm, erect or ascending, sometimes geniculate, usually single or few together, sometimes clumped;

nodes 2-7, pubescent or glabrous;

internodes glabrous or pubescent.

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, villous, or glabrous;

auricles sometimes present on the lower leaves;

ligules to 4 mm, glabrous, truncate or obtuse, erose;

blades 7-30 cm long, 2.5-8.5(9) mm wide, flat, pubescent or glabrous on both surfaces, sometimes only the adaxial surface pubescent.

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.

10-24 cm, open or contracted, erect or nodding;

branches erect to spreading.

(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.

16-32(45) mm, elliptic to lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed, sometimes purplish, with 4-14 florets.

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 or hairy;

lower glumes (4)5-10 mm, 1(3)-veined;

upper glumes (5)7.5-13 mm, 3-veined;

lemmas 9-16 mm, lanceolate, rounded over the midvein, sparsely to densely hairy throughout, or on the margins and lower portion of the back, or along the marginal veins and keel, apices subulate to acute, entire or slightly emarginate, lobes shorter than 1 mm;

awns usually present, sometimes absent, to 7.5 mm, straight, arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices;

anthers 3.5-7 mm.

= 42.

= 28, 56.