Flora of North America species comparison

5-90 cm, erect, slender, puberulent below the panicle.

45-120(180) cm tall, usually less than 3 mm thick, erect.

usually densely and softly retrorsely pubescent to pilose, upper sheaths sometimes glabrous;

auricles absent;

ligules 2-3 mm, glabrous, obtuse, lacerate;

blades to 16 cm long, 1-6 mm wide, both surfaces softly hairy.

mostly glabrous or retrorsely soft pilose, throats usually hairy;

auricles sometimes present on the lower leaves;

ligules 1-3.5(4) mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy, acute to obtuse, lacerate or erose;

blades 8-30 cm long, 1-12 mm wide, flat or becoming involute, glabrous or sparsely pilose to pubescent on 1 or both surfaces.

5-20 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, open, lax, drooping distally, usually 1-sided;

branches 1-4 cm, drooping, usually 1-sided and longer than the spikelets, usually at least 1 branch with 4-8 spikelets.

5-40 cm, lax, open or erect;

lower branches usually shorter than 10 cm, 1-4 per node, ascending to strongly divergent or reflexed, with 1-4 spikelets variously distributed.

10-20 mm, usually shorter than the panicle branches, sides parallel or diverging distally, moderately laterally compressed, often purplish-tinged, not densely crowded, with 4-8 florets.

20-40 mm, shorter than at least some pedicels and branches, elliptic to lanceolate, strongly laterally compressed, not crowded or overlapping, sometimes purplish, with 4-11 florets.

villous, pubescent, or glabrous, margins hyaline;

lower glumes 4-9 mm, 1-veined;

upper glumes 7-13 mm, 3-5-veined;

lemmas 9-12 mm, lanceolate, glabrous or pubescent to pilose, 5-7-veined, rounded over the midvein, margins hyaline, often with some hairs longer than those on the backs, apices acuminate, hyaline, bifid, teeth 0.8-2(3) mm;

awns 10-18 mm, straight, arising 1.5 mm or more below the lemma apices;

anthers 0.5-1 mm.

glabrous or pubescent;

lower glumes 7-11 mm, 3-7(9)-veined;

upper glumes 9-13 mm, shorter than the lowest lemma, 5-9(11)-veined;

lemmas 10-16(17) mm, lanceolate, laterally compressed, strongly keeled distally, usually more or less uniformly pubescent or pubescent on the margins only, sometimes glabrous or scabrous, 7-9-veined, veins usually not raised or riblike, apices entire or with acute teeth shorter than 1 mm;

awns 4-17 mm, sometimes slightly geniculate;

anthers 1-6 mm.

= 14.

= 28, 42, 56.