Flora of North America species comparison

(40)60-150(180) cm, erect or decumbent;

nodes 4-10, mostly concealed by the leaf sheaths, glabrous.

45-100 cm, erect or decumbent at the base;

nodes glabrous or almost so.

evenly distributed;

sheaths smooth or scabridulous, glabrous or hirsute, often reddish brown;

auricles 1.5-4 mm, brown or purplish black;

ligules to 1(2) mm, truncate, ciliolate;

blades (3)4-15(20) mm wide, usually firm, often ascending and somewhat involute, usually dull green, drying to grayish, adaxial surfaces usually smooth or scabridulous and glabrous, rarely sparsely hispid to villous.

evenly distributed over the lower 1/2 of the culms;

sheaths glabrous;

auricles usually present, to 1 mm;

ligules to 1 mm on the basal leaves, 1-3 mm on the flag leaves;

blades 2.5-6 mm wide, lax, abaxial surfaces smooth and glabrous, adaxial surfaces scabrous, with scattered 0.5-1 mm hairs, veins close together.

6-30 cm long, 3-7 cm wide, usually nodding, sometimes pendent or almost erect, usually with 2(3) spikelets per node, occasionally to 5 at some nodes, rarely with 1 at some nodes but never throughout;

internodes (2)3-5(7) mm long, or 5-10 mm long towards the base, 0.2-0.35 mm thick at the thinnest sections, glabrous or with a few hairs below the spikelets.

12-25 cm long, 2.5-6 cm wide including the awns, 10-15 mm wide excluding the awns, flexuous, usually nodding or pendent at maturity, with 1 spikelet per node;

internodes 11-17 mm long, 0.4-1 mm wide, glabrous, mostly smooth, scabrous on the edges.

12-20 mm excluding the awns, more or less divergent, with (2)3-5(7) florets, lowest florets functional;

disarticulation usually above the glumes and beneath each floret, rarely also below the glumes.

14-26 mm long, 6-8 mm wide, appressed to divergent, 1.5-2 times as long as the internodes, with 4-6 florets;

rachillas glabrous;

disarticulation above the glumes and beneath each floret.

usually equal, occasionally subequal, 11-40 mm including the awns, the basal 0-1 mm subterete and slightly indurate, glume bodies 6-13 mm long, 0.5-1.6 mm wide, linear-lanceolate to subsetaceous, entire, widening or parallel-sided above the base, 3-5-veined, glabrous to scabrous-ciliate, rarely villous on the veins, margins firm, awns (5)10-25(27) mm, straight to outcurving;

lemmas 8-15 mm, glabrous, scabrous, hispid, or uniformly villous with the hairs generally appressed, awns (10)15-40(50) mm, moderately to strongly outcurving, often contorted at the spike bases;

paleas 7-13 mm, acute, usually bidentate;

anthers 2-3.5 mm.

narrowly lanceolate, margins about 0.2 mm wide, 3(5)-veined, the bases flat, evidently veined, margins hyaline, widest at about midlength, acute or acuminate, unawned or awned, awns to 4 mm, straight;

lower glumes 5-9 mm;

upper glumes 8-10 mm;

lemmas 8-15 mm, scabrous, rounded on the back, awns 10-25 mm, arcuately diverging;

paleas as long as or longer than the lemmas, tapering, apices truncate, about 0.3 mm wide;

anthers 3-5 mm.

May to July.

= 28, rarely 42.

= 28.