Flora of North America species comparison

50-140 cm, stout, pilose with papillose-based hairs to subglabrous;

fall phase branching from the mid- and upper culm nodes, with a few, nearly erect, elongate branches, sparsely rebranching, sheaths overlapping, concealing the secondary panicles;

nodes not swollen, glabrous or sparsely pubescent.

20-100 cm, decumbent to erect, sometimes geniculate;

nodes usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely pilose or densely bearded with retrorse hairs;

internodes often purplish or olive green, lowest internodes usually glabrous, varying to sparsely pubescent;

fall phase usually branching freely, especially from the nodes above the middle, ultimately forming dense, reclining fascicles of divergent branchlets with numerous reduced, thin, often involute blades, secondary panicles often reduced, with few spikelets.

5-10;

sheaths not overlapping, striate-ribbed, narrowing above midlength, hispid to sparsely hirsute, hairs sometimes papillose-based, summits mottled with pale spots, margins ciliate, collars puberulent;

ligules 0.4-0.9 mm, membranous;

blades 10-25 cm long, 15-30 mm wide, flat, lanceolate, often rigid, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, with 9-13 major veins and 40-80 minor veins, bases cordate, with papillose-based cilia, apices acuminate.

4-7;

sheaths usually shorter than the internodes, usually glabrous, occasionally the lower sheaths sparsely to densely soft-pubescent, sheaths of the uppermost leaves sometimes with whitish glandular spots between the prominent veins, margins of all sheaths glabrous or ciliate;

ligules absent or shorter than 1 mm, of hairs;

blades 3.5-14 cm long, 5-14 mm wide, usually thin, distant, spreading to reflexed or (occasionally) ascending, yellow-green to purplish, usually glabrous on both surfaces or (at least the lower blades) more or less densely and softly pubescent, bases constricted (in narrow-bladed subspecies) or narrowly subcordate (in wide-bladed subspecies), margins glabrous or ciliate basally, glabrous distally, blades of the flag leaves usually spreading.

2.4-3.6 mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, narrowly ellipsoid, sparsely pubescent.

1.5-2.7 mm, usually ellipsoid or obovoid, green or purplish (at least at the base), glabrous or (less commonly) sparsely pubescent or puberulent, often prominently veined, obtuse to acute to beaked.

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

upper glumes and lower florets slightly shorter than the spikelets, with 7 or 9 prominent veins;

lower florets sterile;

upper florets umbonate, apices with a minute tuft of hairs.

usually less than 1/3 as long as the spikelets, obtuse to acute;

upper glumes usually slightly shorter than or as long as the lower lemmas and upper florets (occasionally extending beyond the floret);

lower florets sterile;

upper florets 1.3-2 mm long, usually less than 1 mm wide, ellipsoid, subacute to obtuse.

rosettes well-differentiated;

sheaths pubescent;

blades ovate to lanceolate.

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades ovate to lanceolate.

panicles 8-16 cm long, 4-12 mm wide, exserted, with many spikelets.

panicles 3-12 cm, long-exserted, usually with many spikelets;

branches wiry, mostly spreading or ascending, usually glabrous, sometimes scabridulous.

= 36.