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.

20-55 cm, erect;

nodes densely bearded;

internodes densely villous;

fall phase with spreading culms branching from the lower and midculm nodes, eventually producing flabellate clusters of reduced, flat blades, secondary panicles much reduced.

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.

3-4;

sheaths shorter than the internodes, pilose with ascending papillose-based hairs to villous;

ligules 0.5-2 mm, of hairs;

blades 4-12 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, stiffly ascending to erect, often wrinkled along the prominent veins, usually villous on both surfaces, apices involute-pointed, blades of the flag leaves much reduced.

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

2.3-3 mm long, 1.4-1.8 mm wide, obovoid, biconvex in side view, densely pubescent, attenuate basally.

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.

about 1/3 as long as the spikelets, attached about 0.2 mm below the upper glumes, clasping at the base, broadly triangular, thinner than the upper glumes, weakly veined;

upper glumes with 5-9 prominent veins;

lower florets sterile;

upper florets broadly ellipsoid, apices blunt, minutely puberulent.

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades 1.5-6 cm, ovate to lanceolate.

rosettes poorly differentiated;

blades 2-8 cm, ovate to lanceolate, grading into the cauline blades.

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 3-7 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, well-exserted;

branches usually ascending, glabrous or puberulent.

= 18.

= 18.