Flora of North America species comparison

80-130 cm, erect, with densely villous cataphylls, branching from the lower and middle nodes.

5-250 cm, erect or decumbent, branching basally or at aerial culm nodes, when annual or of indefinite duration usually decumbent and rooting at the lower nodes.

usually sparsely to densely papillose-hirsute, occasionally glabrous;

ligules 4-6 mm, usually lacerate, not ciliate;

blades 20-50 cm long, 10-17 mm wide, lax, smooth or scabridulous abaxially, scabridulous to scabrous adaxially.

open;

ligules membranous, sometimes ciliate;

blades usually flat.

20-35 cm long, 2-10 cm wide, with numerous spikelike primary branches;

primary branches 10-15 cm, appressed to ascending at maturity, axes not wing-margined or with wings less than 1/2 as wide as the midribs;

internodes 3-4.5(6) mm (midbranch), bearing spikelets in unequally pedicellate pairs;

secondary branches rarely present;

pedicels not adnate to the branches;

shorter pedicels 0.7-2 mm;

longer pedicels 2.5-5 mm;

terminal pedicels 2-5 mm.

terminal, sometimes also axillary, usually panicles of 1-sided spikelike branches (sometimes only 1 branch) attached digitately or racemosely to a rachis, sometimes simple panicles of solitary, pedicellate spikelets; spikelike branches, if present, sometimes with secondary branches, primary branch axes triquetrous, bearing spikelets abaxially, in 2 rows, usually in unequally pedicellate groups of 2-5, occasionally borne singly.

5.5-8.2 mm (including pubescence), 4.2-5.9 mm (excluding pubescence), narrowly ovate, acuminate.

1.2-8.2 mm, lanceoloid to ellipsoid, dorsally compressed, apices obtuse to acuminate, unawned, with 2 florets;

disarticulation beneath the glumes.

0.6-0.8 mm;

upper glumes 3.5-4.5 mm, 3-5-veined, pubescent on the margins;

lower lemmas 4.1-5.7 mm (exceeded 1.5-5 mm by pubescence), narrowly ovate, 7-veined, pubescent between most, sometimes all, of the veins and on the margins, veins usually obscured by a dense covering of golden-brown hairs, hairs 3-6 mm, spreading at maturity, intercostal regions on either side of the midvein glabrous or pubescent with shorter, fine, white hairs, sometimes intermixed with the golden-brown hairs;

upper lemmas 3.2-4.5 mm, narrowly ovate, brown when immature, dark brown at maturity, acuminate;

anthers 1-1.2 mm.

absent or to 1/4 as long as the spikelets;

upper glumes usually from 1/6 as long as to equaling the spikelets, occasionally absent, 0-5-veined, usually pubescent;

lower florets sterile;

lower lemmas membranous, usually as long as the upper lemmas, usually pubescent, (3)5-7(13)-veined;

lower paleas absent or reduced;

upper lemmas mostly stiffly chartaceous to cartilaginous, obscurely veined, with 0.5-1 mm hyaline margins that embrace the upper paleas;

upper paleas similar to the upper lemmas in texture and size;

lodicules 3, cuneate;

anthers 3.

plano-convex;

embryos 1/5–1/2 as long as the caryopses;

hila punctiform to ellipsoid, x = 9.

= 36.