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.

20-55 cm, most forming in the spring additional culms sometimes produced in the fall;

nodes glabrous or sparsely ascending-pubescent;

internodes all elongated, glabrous or puberulent;

fall phase with a few suberect branches from the lower and midculm nodes, branches not rebranching, blades slightly reduced, secondary panicles partially exserted.

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;

lower sheaths not overlapping, sometimes pubescent;

upper sheaths overlapping, sparsely to densely pubescent, hairs papillose-based, margins ciliate;

ligules 0.3-0.5 mm, membranous, ciliate, cilia longer than the membranous bases;

blades 7-17 cm long, 7-23 mm wide, erect, pale yellow-green to bluish-green, glabrous, with 7-11 prominent major veins and 30-110 minor veins, bases tapered or rounded to truncate, margins with papillose-based cilia.

7-14 cm long, 1-5 cm wide, their length usually more than twice their width, narrowly cylindric, eventually well-exserted, with 9-46 spikelets;

branches strongly ascending, stiff.

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

3.2-4.1 mm long, 1.8-2.2 mm wide, obovoid, turgid, puberulent to subglabrous, with rounded apices.

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.

1.7-2.2 mm, narrowly triangular;

lower florets staminate;

upper florets longer than the upper glumes, mucronate.

rosettes poorly differentiated;

sheaths glabrous;

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

rosettes often poorly differentiated;

blades few, grading into the cauline blades.

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.

= 18.

= 36.