Flora of North America species comparison

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.

70-150 cm, erect, glabrous.

glabrous;

ligules absent;

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

glabrous;

ligules absent;

blades 8-35 cm long, 3-20(30) mm wide, glabrous.

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.

7-18 cm, erect to slightly drooping at maturity, rachises not or only sparsely hispid, nodes with papillose-based hairs;

branches numerous, appressed or ascending, spikelike, not or only sparsely hispid, hairs papillose-based;

primary branches 1.5-4 cm, glabrous or sparsely hispid, hairs to 3 mm, papillose-based;

secondary branches, if present, usually concealed by the densely packed spikelets;

longer pedicels 0.2-0.5 mm.

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

3-3.5 mm, often with 1 sterile and 2 bisexual florets, not disarticulating at maturity (particularly those near the bases of the panicles), scabrous or short-hispid but without papillose-based hairs, green and pale at maturity, apices usually obtuse, varying to acute.

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.

narrower and shorter than the upper lemmas;

lower florets sterile;

lower lemmas unawned;

lower paleas subequal to the lower lemmas;

upper lemmas 2.5-3 mm, ovate to elliptic, coriaceous portion terminating abruptly at the base of the membranous tip;

anthers 0.8-1 mm.

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

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

1.7-2.2 mm long, 1.6-1.8 mm wide, whitish;

embryos 66-86% as long as the caryopses.

= 36.

= 54.