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.

20-60 cm, with caudices, slender, glabrous, weakly ascending, with a tuft of predominantly basal leaves, only the upper 3 internodes elongated;

fall phase rarely branching, branches, if present, from the basal and sub-basal nodes, erect.

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.

3-4;

sheaths longer than the internodes, lower sheaths sparsely ascending to spreading-pilose, upper sheaths somewhat elongate, striate, glabrous, lustrous;

ligules usually 0.5-1 mm, membranous, ciliate;

blades 2-20 cm long, 3-10 mm wide, mostly basal, ascending to erect, widest near midlength, flat to stiffly involute, tapering basally and partly encircling the culm, glabrous, blades of the flag leaves distant from and much smaller than those below.

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

2.4-3.2 mm long, usually less than 1 mm wide, narrowly ellipsoid to ovoid, often purplish-stained, glabrous.

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.

less than 1/3 as long as the spikelets, acute;

upper glumes and lower lemmas clearly longer than the upper florets, prominently veined, apices acuminate and usually beaked;

lower florets sterile;

upper florets about 2 mm long, about 1 mm wide, ellipsoid, acute.

rosettes poorly differentiated;

sheaths glabrous;

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

rosettes somewhat differentiated;

blades lanceolate.

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 2-7 cm long, almost as wide when expanded, long-exserted, sparse;

branches few, ascending to spreading, glabrous or scabridulous.

= 18.

= unknown.