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.

25-75 cm, 2-3 mm thick, erect, purplish;

nodes densely bearded with spreading to retrorse hairs above a glabrous ring;

internodes pilose or ascending hirsute, hairs papillose-based, also puberulent;

fall phase with nearly erect culms, branching from the mid- and upper culm nodes;

branches short, ascending, bushy, with several reduced, partly enclosed secondary panicles.

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;

sheaths not overlapping, papillose-hirsute and puberulent;

collars densely pubescent;

ligules 2-5 mm, of hairs;

blades 8-17 cm long, 8-18 mm wide, lanceolate, stiff, thick, abaxial surfaces densely soft-pubescent, velvety, adaxial surfaces glabrous or sparsely pilose, with 9-11 major veins slightly more prominent than the minor veins, bases rounded or subcordate, margins with papillose-based cilia, apices acuminate.

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

3.7-4.3 mm long, 1.6-2.1 mm wide, obovoid, turgid, often shiny, sparsely pustulose-villous.

0.5-1 mm, triangular-ovate;

lower florets sterile;

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

1.8-2.5 mm, loose, strongly veined, acute;

upper glumes shorter than the spikelets, strongly veined, purplish at the base;

lower florets sterile;

upper florets with a minute tuft of hairs around the umbonate apices.

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades 2-4 cm, pubescent, reddish.

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades 3-8 cm, ovate to lanceolate.

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

panicles 5-11 cm, almost as wide as long, shortly exserted, with few spikelets;

rachises and branches scabridulous and finely pubescent, hairs papillose-based.

= 18.

= 18.