Flora of North America species comparison

30-75 cm, erect.

10-100+ cm.

glabrous;

ligules about 0.5 mm, shortly ciliate;

blades to 20 cm long, to 5 mm wide, sometimes with long basal hairs, otherwise scabrous.

usually glabrous;

ligules to 4 mm, erose or ciliate;

blades to 30 cm long, to 15 mm wide, basal hairs to 4 mm, otherwise usually glabrous, occasionally pilose.

with 5-17, evidently distinct branches in 1-3 closely-spaced whorls;

branches to 7 cm, usually erect when young, spreading to reflexed at maturity, averaging 12 spikelets per cm.

digitate, with 4-20, evidently distinct branches;

branches 5-10 cm, erect to ascending, averaging 10 spikelets per cm.

with 1 bisexual and 1 staminate floret.

strongly imbricate, with 1 bisexual and 1(2) sterile floret(s).

1.5-3.2 mm;

upper glumes 2.5-3.4 mm;

lowest lemmas 2.8-3.7 mm long, 0.6-1.1 mm wide, broadly linear to elliptic, mostly glabrous but the margins appressed pubescent, apices obtuse, not conspicuously bilobed, sometimes shortly mucronate;

second florets 1.4-2.2 mm long, 0.3-0.9 mm wide, usually at least twice as long as wide, not lobed, unawned, occasionally mucronate.

1.5-2.5 mm;

upper glumes 2.5-4.3 mm;

lowest lemmas 2.5-4.2 mm, keels usually prominently gibbous, glabrous, or conspicuously pilose, sides not grooved, margins glabrous, scabrous or pilose basally, with conspicuously longer hairs distally, hairs longer than 1.5 mm, lemma apices not conspicuously bilobed, awned, awns 2.5-15 mm;

second florets 1.4-2.9 mm long, 0.4-0.8 mm wide, somewhat widened distally, not inflated, bilobed, lobes less than 1/5 as long as the lemmas, awned from the sinuses, awns 3-9.5 mm;

third florets greatly reduced, unawned and shorter than the subtending rachilla segment or absent but the rachilla segment present.

1.7-2.3 mm long, 0.5-0.6 mm wide, ellipsoid.

1.5-2 mm long, about 0.5 mm wide, elliptic.

= ca. 65, 80.

= 20, 26, 30, 40.