Flora of North America species comparison

30-200 cm, spreading, decumbent or stiffly erect;

nodes usually glabrous or the lower nodes puberulent.

80-160 cm, erect or spreading, sometimes rooting at the lowest nodes, often developing short axillary flowering shoots at most upper nodes when mature;

lower nodes glabrous or puberulent;

upper nodes glabrous.

glabrous;

ligules absent, ligule region sometimes pubescent;

blades to 65 cm long, 5-30 mm wide, usually glabrous, occasionally sparsely hirsute.

glabrous;

ligules absent;

blades 1-27 cm long, 0.8-30 mm wide.

5-25 cm, with few-many papillose-based hairs at or below the nodes of the primary axes, hairs sometimes longer than the spikelets;

primary branches 1.5-10 cm, erect to spreading, longer branches with short, inconspicuous secondary branches, axes scabrous, sometimes also sparsely hispid, hairs to 5 mm, papillose-based.

of primary culms 7-35 cm, rachises and branches glabrous or hispid, hairs to 3 mm, papillose-based;

primary branches 2-8 cm, usually spreading and rather distant, often with secondary branches.

2.5-4 mm long, 1.1-2.3 mm wide, disarticulating at maturity.

2.5-5 mm, disarticulating at maturity, usually purple or streaked with purple, usually hispid, hairs papillose-based.

about as long as the spikelets;

lower florets sterile;

lower lemmas unawned to awned, sometimes varying within a branch, awns to 50 mm;

lower paleas subequal to the lemmas;

upper lemmas broadly ovate to elliptical, coriaceous portion rounded distally, passing abruptly into an early-withering, acuminate, membranous tip that is further demarcated from the coriaceous portion by a line of minute hairs (use 25x magnification);

anthers 0.5-1 mm.

about as long as the spikelets;

lower florets sterile;

lower lemmas unawned or awned, awns to 16 mm;

lower paleas well-developed;

upper lemmas broadly obovoid or orbicular, narrowing to an acute or acuminate coriaceous portion that extends into the membranous tip, boundary between the coriaceous and membranous portions not marked by minute hairs;

anthers 0.4-1.1 mm.

1.3-2.2 mm long, 1-1.8 mm wide, ovoid or oblong, brownish;

embryos 59-86% as long as the caryopses.

1.2-2.5 mm, broadly obovoid or spheroid, yellowish;

embryos 1.4-2 mm, 80-91% as long as the caryopses.

= 54.

= 36.