Flora of North America species comparison

2-70 cm, erect or ascending.

20-70 cm tall, to 3 mm thick, sometimes geniculate at the base.

usually smooth or scabridulous, sometimes slightly pubescent distally, not pilose at the throat;

auricles absent;

ligules 1-6 mm, densely hairy to ciliolate, acute to obtuse, erose;

blades 6-13 cm long, 6-8 mm wide, flat, both surfaces glabrous, sometimes scabrous.

1-13 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, erect, usually ovoid, open, becoming dense, occasionally reduced to 1 or 2 spikelets;

branches shorter than the spikelets, ascending to erect, straight or almost so.

9-20 cm long, 2-2.5 cm wide, dense;

lower branches shorter than 10 cm, 2-4 per node, erect, with 1-2 spikelets variously distributed.

(11)14-20(23) mm, lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed;

florets 5-10, bases concealed at maturity;

rachilla internodes concealed at maturity.

20-40 mm, usually longer than the branches and pedicels, elliptic to lanceolate, strongly laterally compressed, crowded, overlapping, with 3-7 florets.

pilose or glabrous;

lower glumes 5-7 mm, 3-5-veined;

upper glumes 6.5-8 mm, 5-7-veined;

lemmas 6.5-11 mm long, 3-5 mm wide, lanceolate, chartaceous, antrorsely pilose to pubescent, or glabrous proximally or throughout, 7-9-veined, lateral veins prominently ribbed, rounded over the midvein, hyaline margins abruptly or bluntly angled, not inrolled at maturity, apices acute, bifid, teeth shorter than 1 mm;

awns 6-8 mm, usually arising less than 1.5 mm below the lemma apices, straight to recurved at maturity;

anthers 0.6-1.5 mm.

pubescent;

lower glumes 8-12 mm, (3)5(7)-veined;

upper glumes 10-13 mm, 7(9)-veined, shorter than the lowest lemma;

lemmas 12-14 mm, lanceolate, laterally compressed, distinctly 9-11-veined, strongly keeled at least distally, more or less uniformly hairy, often with bronze hyaline margins, apices entire or with acute teeth shorter than 1 mm;

awns (2)4-7 mm;

anthers 2-4 mm.

equaling or shorter than the paleas, thin, weakly inrolled to flat.

sheaths densely, often retrorsely, pilose;

upper sheaths pubescent or glabrous;

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

blades 2-19 cm long, 1-4 mm wide, abaxial surfaces glabrous or hairy, adaxial surfaces hairy.

= 28.

= 56.