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.

70-150 cm, robust, purplish;

nodes glabrous or puberulent;

internodes scabridulous to almost glabrous;

fall phase branching from the mid- and upper culm nodes, developing numerous, well-separated, dense fascicles of many reduced blades and hidden secondary panicles.

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.

6-14;

sheaths not overlapping, narrowing above midlength, sparsely to densely papillose-hispid, tops mottled with pale spots, margins ciliate, collars puberulent;

ligules 0.5-1.2 mm, membranous;

blades 12-25 cm long, 7-15 mm wide, linear, stiff, ascending to spreading, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, bases subcordate to constricted, margins scabridulous, apices long tapering, involute.

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

2.2-2.8 mm long, 1-1.2 mm wide, ovoid-ellipsoid, often purplish, glabrous, rarely sparsely puberulent.

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

upper florets 0.8-1.7 mm, ellipsoid, subacute.

0.5-1 mm, acute;

upper glumes and lower florets exceeding the upper florets, prominently 7-9-veined;

lower florets sterile;

upper florets acute to acuminate, with a minute tuft of hairs at the apices.

rosettes poorly differentiated;

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

rosettes well-differentiated;

sheaths pubescent;

blades lanceolate.

panicles short- to long-exserted;

rachises and branches often pilose.

panicles 10-21 cm long, 6-13 cm wide, eventually well-exserted, with many spikelets;

rachises and branches usually glabrous and mottled.

in large clumps, with rhizomes 3-5 mm thick.

= 18.