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.

50-150 cm, usually robust, erect;

nodes often swollen, densely bearded with thin retrorse hairs above a constricted, glabrous, viscid ring;

internodes grayish-purple, velvety-pubescent;

fall phase branching from the mid- and upper culm nodes, with long, repeatedly forking and often recurving branches, ultimately with fascicles of reduced blades and included 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.

7-11;

sheaths not overlapping, narrowing distally, lustrous, bases sparsely to densely retrorsely villous, hairs papillose-based, summits purplish, with yellowish spots;

collars densely villous;

ligules 0.5-2 mm, of hairs;

blades 9-20 cm long, 9-20 mm wide, thick, densely soft pubescent, bases rounded to subcordate, margins ciliate basally.

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

2.2-2.8 mm long, 1.3-1.5 mm wide, ovoid-ellipsoid, often purplish basally, prominently veined, margins and apices sparsely to densely pubescent, hairs papillose-based.

0.5-1 mm, triangular-ovate;

lower florets sterile;

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

0.6-1.3 mm, subtruncate to acuminate;

lower florets sterile;

upper florets minutely apiculate.

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades 2-4 cm, pubescent, reddish.

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades sometimes more than 10 cm, lanceolate.

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

panicles 6-16 cm long, 5-12 cm wide, well-exserted, dense;

rachises softly pubescent basally;

branches often mottled with purplish viscid spots, glabrous.

= 18.

= 18.