Flora of North America species comparison

18-75 cm, usually more than 1 mm thick, occasionally delicate, erect or ascending;

nodes glabrous;

internodes glabrous;

fall phase with decumbent culms, branches arising from the lower and midculm nodes, rebranching 2-3 times, with small blades and secondary panicles compared to those on the culms, secondary panicles with 8-10 spikelets, partially included at maturity.

20-55 cm, erect;

nodes densely bearded;

internodes densely villous;

fall phase with spreading culms branching from the lower and midculm nodes, eventually producing flabellate clusters of reduced, flat blades, secondary panicles much reduced.

3-5;

sheaths shorter than the internodes, lower sheaths pubescent, upper sheaths glabrous, margins of all sheaths sparsely ciliate;

ligules about 0.5 mm, of hairs;

blades 5-11 cm long, 5-13 mm wide, thin, spreading to erect, usually glabrous, rarely pubescent abaxially, always glabrous adaxially, bases truncate to cordate, ciliate on the margins, blades of the flag leaves erect or ascending.

3-4;

sheaths shorter than the internodes, pilose with ascending papillose-based hairs to villous;

ligules 0.5-2 mm, of hairs;

blades 4-12 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, stiffly ascending to erect, often wrinkled along the prominent veins, usually villous on both surfaces, apices involute-pointed, blades of the flag leaves much reduced.

2-2.2 mm long, 0.8-1.3 mm wide, ellipsoid, usually reddish, shortly pubescent, subacute.

2.3-3 mm long, 1.4-1.8 mm wide, obovoid, biconvex in side view, densely pubescent, attenuate basally.

0.5-1 mm, triangular-ovate;

lower florets sterile;

upper florets slightly exceeding the upper glumes and lower lemmas, subacute.

about 1/3 as long as the spikelets, attached about 0.2 mm below the upper glumes, clasping at the base, broadly triangular, thinner than the upper glumes, weakly veined;

upper glumes with 5-9 prominent veins;

lower florets sterile;

upper florets broadly ellipsoid, apices blunt, minutely puberulent.

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades 2-4 cm, pubescent, reddish.

rosettes poorly differentiated;

blades 2-8 cm, ovate to lanceolate, grading into the cauline blades.

panicles 5-11 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, ovoid, long-exserted, with 40-220 spikelets.

panicles 3-7 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, well-exserted;

branches usually ascending, glabrous or puberulent.

= 18.

= 18.