Flora of North America species comparison

15-35 cm, stiffly erect, all but the upper 2-4 internodes very short;

nodes glabrous or with weak, reflexed hairs;

internodes purplish-gray, sparsely pubescent;

fall phase developing early, forming erect branches from the lower or midculm nodes, each branch terminating in a partially included panicle of 8-16 spikelets, no sterile shoots formed.

10-45 cm, erect to spreading, lower 4-10 internodes telescoped together, less than 2 cm, upper 2 internodes elongated;

nodes bearded;

internodes pubescent to subglabrous;

fall phase a dense mass of erect blades and foreshortened branches that arise from the basal culm nodes, about 54 of the branches sterile, others with small, narrow, secondary panicles of 3-7 spikelets that remain enclosed within the sheaths.

usually 3;

sheaths hirsute, hairs papillose-based;

ligules 0.5-1 mm;

blades 4-8 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, all alike, stiffly erect, green to grayish-green, flat, not plicate, sparsely pilose.

2-4;

sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous or densely ascending-pilose;

ligules about 0.5 mm;

blades 6-15 cm long, 1-4 mm wide, green to grayish-green, sometimes involute, glabrous or densely pilose, apices long-tapering, lower blades small to vestigial, upper 2 or 3 blades longer and stiffly erect.

2.4-3.2 mm long, 0.7-1.2 mm wide, ellipsoid to obovoid, often reddish throughout, short-pubescent.

3.2-4.3 mm long, 1-1.7 mm wide, ellipsoid-pointed, glabrous or finely pubescent.

0.7-1.2 mm, triangular;

upper glumes and lower lemmas about equaling the upper florets;

upper florets 1.9-2.5 mm, ellipsoid, pointed.

1.2-1.6 mm, narrowly triangular;

upper glumes and lower lemmas exceeding the upper florets by 0.2-1 mm, forming a pointed beak, upper florets 1.9-3.1 mm, obovoid, minutely umbonate.

rosettes poorly differentiated;

sheaths glabrous;

blades 2-4 cm, narrow, similar to those of the lower cauline leaves, ascending to spreading.

rosettes poorly differentiated;

blades similar in shape to the lower cauline blades, narrow, ascending.

panicles 3-5 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, ovoid, open, shortly exserted, with 12-32 spikelets;

branches short, stiff, spreading;

pedicels mostly 4-8 mm, spreading.

panicles 3-6 cm long, 1.5-3 cm wide, usually long-exserted (sometimes contracted and remaining basal), with 7-25 spikelets.

= 18.

= 18.