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.

15-50 cm, few together, decumbent or ascending, light green, glabrous, slightly fleshy or thickened;

fall phase branching mostly near the bases, with sparse branching;

nodes appressed-pubescent or glabrous.

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.

3-4(6);

sheaths sometimes overlapping near the bases, glabrous, margins ciliate;

ligules almost obsolete, or of 0.2-0.8 mm hairs from a tiny membranous base;

blades 1.5-10 cm long, 5-14 mm wide, thick, light green, faintly veined, bases cordate, with papillose-based cilia, margins white, cartilaginous.

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

1.4-1.8 mm, broadly obovoid-spherical, usually puberulent, sometimes glabrous.

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

upper florets 0.8-1.7 mm, ellipsoid, subacute.

0.4-0.8 mm, acute to obtuse, upper florets 1.1-1.5 mm, broadly ellipsoid, blunt.

rosettes poorly differentiated;

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

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades 2-6 cm long, about 1 cm wide, ovate, the uppermost leaves often resembling the lower cauline blades.

panicles short- to long-exserted;

rachises and branches often pilose.

panicles 4-14 cm, more than 1/2 as wide as long, usually long-exserted.

= 18.