Flora of North America species comparison

15-50 cm, slender, wiry;

internodes olive green to purplish, densely puberulent or glabrous;

fall phase spreading or decumbent, branching extensively from the lower and midculm nodes, producing numerous congested fascicles of reduced, flat or involute blades and reduced secondary panicles.

15-100 cm (rarely taller), usually thicker than 1 mm, weak and wiry or relatively stout and rigid, erect, ascending or decumbent;

nodes occasionally swollen, glabrous or densely pubescent, often with a glabrous or viscid ring below;

internodes purplish or olive green or grayish-green, to yellowish-green, variously pubescent, with hairs of 2 lengths or glabrous;

fall phase erect, spreading, or decumbent, usually branching extensively at all but the uppermost nodes, ultimately forming dense fascicles of branchlets with reduced, flat or involute blades and reduced secondary panicles with few spikelets.

4-7;

sheaths much shorter than the internodes, densely crisp-puberulent, velvety-puberulent, or glabrous, often ciliate along the margins;

ligules shorter than 0.5 mm;

blades 2-7 cm long (seldom longer), 2.5-8 mm wide (rarely wider), spreading, firm, flat or slightly involute, without prominently raised veins, not longitudinally wrinkled, densely puberulent or glabrous abaxially, glabrous, sparsely puberulent, or pubescent adaxially, bases subcordate, with papillose-based cilia, margins often whitish and scabridulous.

4-7;

sheaths usually shorter than the internodes, glabrous or densely and variously pubescent with hairs shorter than 3 mm, margins ciliate or glabrous;

ligules and pseudoligules 1-5 mm, of hairs;

blades 2-12 cm long (rarely longer), 2-12 mm wide (rarely wider), firm or lax, spreading to reflexed or stiffly ascending, yellowish-green or grayish-green to olivaceous, densely to sparsely and variously pubescent, margins similar or occasionally whitish-scabridulous, margins often with papillose-based cilia, at least basally, bases rounded or subcordate.

1.5-2.6 mm, obovoid-pyriform, planoconvex in side view, puberulent, pubescent, or glabrous, attenuate basally, apices usually broadly rounded.

1.1-2.1 mm, obovoid to ellipsoid, yellowish-green to olivaceous or purplish, variously pubescent, obtuse or subacute.

0.6-1.4 mm, thin, weakly-veined, attached about 0.2 mm below the upper glumes, clasping at the base;

upper glumes as long as or slightly shorter than the lower lemmas;

upper florets 1.4-2 mm, broadly ellipsoid, apices subacute, minutely puberulent.

usually 1/4 - 1/2 as long as the spikelets, obtuse to acute;

upper glumes and lower lemmas subequal, equaling the upper florets at maturity, or occasionally the upper glumes slightly shorter, not strongly veined;

lower florets sterile;

upper florets 1.1-1.7 mm long, 0.6-1 mm wide, ellipsoid, obtuse to acute or minutely umbonate or apiculate.

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades 1.5-6 cm, ovate to lanceolate.

rosettes usually well-differentiated;

blades ovate to lanceolate.

panicles 2-7 cm long, 2/3 to nearly as wide as long, with relatively few spikelets, exserted;

branches flexuous, spreading or reflexed, scabridulous to densely puberulent.

panicles 3-12 cm, 1/4 - 3/4 as wide as long, usually open, well-exserted, rather dense;

rachises glabrous, puberulent, or more or less densely pilose, at least basally.

= 18.

= 18.