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.

45-110 cm, nearly erect;

nodes glabrous or the lower nodes slightly bearded;

internodes glabrous or sparsely pubescent;

fall phase branching from the mid-culm nodes, branches nearly erect, scarcely rebranching, blades and secondary panicles only slightly 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.

4-6, often with a transitional leaf above the basal rosette;

sheaths not overlapping, glabrous or softly villous basally, margins ciliate, collars pubescent;

ligules 0.4-0.7 mm, membranous, ciliate, cilia longer than the membranous portion;

blades 3.7-7 times longer than wide, 15-40 mm wide, ovate-lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, with 11-13 major veins and 40-120 minor veins, bases cordate-clasping, with papillose-based cilia.

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

2.9-3.9 mm long, 1.6-2 mm wide, ellipsoid, sparsely pubescent.

0.5-1 mm, triangular-ovate;

lower florets sterile;

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

1/3 – 1/2 as long as the spikelets, narrowly triangular;

upper glumes and lower lemmas slightly shorter than the spikelets, often red-tinged basally and apically;

lower florets staminate, anthers exserted prior to those of the upper florets;

upper florets pointed, apiculate, upper lemmas with a minute fringe of hairs.

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades 2-4 cm, pubescent, reddish.

rosettes well-differentiated;

sheaths pubescent;

blades ovate to lanceolate, dark green.

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

panicles 7-15 cm long, 4-12 cm wide, 1.5-2 times as long as wide, with 20-80 spikelets, eventually at least partially exserted;

branches stiff, ascending to spreading.

= 18.

= 18, 36.