Flora of North America species comparison

(22)30-70 cm, erect or ascending.

120-180 cm tall, 3-5 mm thick, erect.

usually densely pilose;

upper sheaths sometimes pubescent or glabrous;

ligules 1-2.2 mm, pilose, obtuse, lacerate;

blades 10-20 cm long, 2-4 mm wide, usually pilose on both surfaces.

glabrous or sparsely pilose;

auricles absent;

ligules 3-4 mm, glabrous or hairy, obtuse, lacerate;

blades 20^40 cm long, 2-9 mm wide, flat, sparsely pilose adaxially or on both surfaces.

10-22 cm long, 4-13 cm wide, open, nodding;

branches usually longer than the spikelets, ascending to spreading or somewhat drooping, slender, flexuous, sometimes sinuous, often with more than 1 spikelet.

25-35 cm, open;

lower branches to 20 cm, 2-4(6) per node, spreading, often drooping, with 1-3 spikelets on the distal 1/2 sometimes confined to the tips.

20-40 mm, lanceolate, terete to moderately laterally compressed;

florets 6-12, bases concealed at maturity;

rachilla internodes concealed at maturity.

18-38 mm, elliptic to lanceolate, strongly laterally compressed, with (5)6-9 florets.

smooth or scabrous;

lower glumes 4.5-7 mm, (3)5-veined;

upper glumes 5-8 mm, 7-veined;

lemmas 7-9 mm long, 1.2-2.2 mm wide, lanceolate, coriaceous, smooth proximally, scabrous on the distal 1/2, obscurely (7)9-veined, rounded over the midvein, margins hyaline, 0.3-0.6 mm wide, obtusely angled above the middle, not inrolled at maturity, apices acute, bifid, teeth shorter than 1 mm;

awns 8-13 mm, strongly divergent at maturity, sometimes erect, twisted, flattened at the base, arising 1.5 mm or more below the lemma apices;

anthers 1-1.5 mm.

glabrous, sometimes scabrous;

lower glumes 6-10 mm, 3-5-veined;

upper glumes 8-11 mm, 5-7-veined;

lemmas 12-14(15) mm, lanceolate, laterally compressed, 7-11-veined, strongly keeled at least distally, usually glabrous, sometimes hirtellous, margins sometimes sparsely pilose, apices entire or with acute teeth, teeth shorter than 1 mm;

awns 5-10 mm;

anthers to 6 mm.

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

= 14.

= 42, 56.