Flora of North America species comparison

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

5-80 cm, decumbent, occasionally rooting at the lower nodes, branching freely at the base, erect portion 20-40 cm;

nodes 2-6.

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.

of midculm leaves glabrous or hirsute, with papillose-based hairs;

ligules 0.8-2.1 mm;

blades 4-15 cm long, 3-10 mm wide, glabrous or sparsely pubescent with papillose-based hairs.

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.

with 2-25 spikelike primary branches on 1-9 cm rachises;

primary branches 2-11 cm, axes not winged or narrowly winged, wings less than 1/2 as wide as the midribs, bearing spikelets in unequally pedicellate pairs;

secondary branches rarely present;

pedicels not adnate to the branch axes.

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

1.5-2.5 mm long, 0.8-0.95 mm wide, ovate-elliptic to broadly elliptic, usually plump, usually purple-tinged.

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.

glumes absent or to 0.8 mm and acute;

upper glumes 1.2-2.4 mm, from 0.8 times as long as to almost equaling the spikelets, glabrous, 3-7-veined, veins usually prominent;

lower lemmas 1.5-2.5 mm, usually glabrous, occasionally obscurely puberulent on the margins or, very rarely, distinctly pubescent, 7-veined, veins usually prominent;

upper lemmas light brown, gray, and purple.

= 36.

= 36.