Flora of North America species comparison

2-70 cm, erect or ascending.

60-120 cm tall, to 3 mm thick, erect, glabrous or puberulent.

usually smooth or scabrous, sometimes hairy except at the throat;

auricles absent;

ligules (1)2-2.5 mm, glabrous, obtuse, erose;

blades 10-31 cm long, 2-9 mm wide, flat, sometimes scabrous, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent to pubescent near the collar.

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.

10-20 cm, open to somewhat contracted;

lower branches shorter than 10 cm, (1)2-3 per node, erect, ascending or spreading, 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.

20-35 mm, shorter than at least some pedicels and branches, elliptic to lanceolate, strongly laterally compressed, not crowded or overlapping, with 6-11 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.

smooth or scabrous;

lower glumes (5.5)7-10(11.5) mm, 3-veined;

upper glumes (7.5) 9-11(12.5) mm, 5-7-veined, shorter than the lowest lemma;

lemmas 12-15 mm, lanceolate, laterally compressed, strongly keeled at least distally, glabrous, sometimes scabrous, 7-9-veined, veins usually not raised or riblike, apices entire or with acute teeth, teeth shorter than 1 mm;

awns 4-7 mm;

anthers 1-5 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.