Flora of North America species comparison

2-70 cm, erect or ascending.

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.

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.

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.

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

branches erect to spreading.

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

florets 5-10, bases concealed at maturity;

rachilla internodes concealed at maturity.

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

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.

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.

= 28, 56.