Flora of North America species comparison

5-45 cm, slender, erect or spreading;

from a dense tuft of predominantly basal leaves, lower internodes short, upper 3-5 internodes elongate;

nodes glabrous or bearded;

internodes glabrous or pilose;

fall phase with spreading culms and branches arising from near the bases forming a dense, flat tuft.

5-45 cm tall, 0.2-0.8 mm thick, erect, often purplish;

nodes glabrous or sparsely pubescent;

internodes often ascending-pubescent below;

fall phase branching extensively from the basal nodes, usually forming very dense cushions.

2-4;

lower cauline sheaths longer than the internodes, mostly glabrous or pilose with ascending hairs, margins finely ciliate;

ligules 0.2-2 mm, at low magnification appearing to be membranous and ciliate, at high magnification evidently of hairs that are coherent at the base;

blades 1.5-6 cm long, 3-8 mm wide, lanceolate, glabrous or softly pilose, margins with prominent papillose-based cilia, at least basally.

3-5;

sheaths mostly shorter than the internodes, often purplish, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, margins often sparsely ciliate;

ligules 0.2-0.5 mm, of hairs, without adjacent pseudoligules;

blades 2-5 cm long (rarely longer), 1-4 mm wide, flat or involute, rather firm, ascending, often purplish, usually glabrous on both surfaces, bases subcordate, often with a few long, stiff cilia, margins narrowly white, cartilaginous, and scabridulous, blades of the flag leaves only slightly shorter than those of the lower leaves.

1.1-2.1 mm, obovoid to broadly ellipsoid, glabrous or pubescent, hairs not papillose-based.

1.1-1.5 mm long, 0.7-1 mm wide, broadly ellipsoid or obovoid, often purple-tinged, glabrous or puberulent, obtuse or subacute.

1/3 - 1/2 as long as the spikelets, acute to obtuse;

upper florets 0.8-1.7 mm, ellipsoid, subacute.

approximately 1/3 as long as the spikelets, broadly acute or obtuse;

upper glumes and lower lemmas subequal or the glumes slightly shorter than the lemmas;

lower florets sterile;

upper florets 0.9-1.2 mm, ellipsoid, apices exceeding the upper glumes and lower lemmas, subacute.

rosettes poorly differentiated;

blades 1-5 cm, lanceolate, grading into the cauline blades.

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades 1-5 cm, ovate to lanceolate.

panicles short- to long-exserted;

rachises and branches often pilose.

panicles 1.5-5 cm (seldom longer), nearly as wide as long, delicate, dense;

branches numerous, flexuous, spreading, often purplish, glabrous or faintly scabridulous.