Flora of North America species comparison

40-120 cm, erect or slightly decumbent;

nodes 4-8, mostly exposed, glabrous.

25-100 cm tall, 1.3-3.5 mm thick, erect;

nodes 4-6, glabrous.

evenly distributed;

sheaths usually glabrous, rarely villous;

auricles 2-3 mm, usually purplish black when fresh, sometimes light brown;

ligules shorter than 1 mm;

blades 7-15 mm wide, lax, dark glossy green under the glaucous bloom, adaxial surfaces usually glabrous, occasionally villous.

basal and cauline;

sheaths glaucous, glabrous or with hairs, margins glabrous or ciliate distally;

auricles 1-2 mm;

ligules 0.2-0.7 mm, truncate;

blades 3-10 mm wide, flattish, often glaucous.

4-12 cm long, (1.7)2.2-3(4)4 cm wide, erect, exserted, with (6)9-16(20) nodes and 2 spikelets at all or most nodes, sometimes with 3 at some nodes;

internodes 4-7 mm long, about 0.3 mm thick and 2-angled at the thinnest sections, usually glabrous or scabridulous beneath the spikelets.

(6.5)10-25 cm long, 1.4-4 cm wide including the awns, 0.7-20 cm wide excluding the awns, flexuous, nodding;

rachises densely to sparsely hirsute on the edges, hairs about 0.2 mm, glabrous elsewhere, glaucous;

internodes (5)8-20 mm.

10-15 mm, strongly divergent, glaucous, maturing to pale yellowish brown, with (2)3-4 florets, lowest florets functional;

disarticulation below the glumes and each floret, the lowest floret often falling with the glumes.

15-25 mm, loosely appressed or ascending, with 5-10 florets;

rachillas hairy, hairs about 0.1 mm;

disarticulation above the glumes, beneath the florets.

subequal, entire, the basal 1-3 mm terete or subterete, indurate, without evident venation, moderately bowed out, glume bodies 8-16 mm long, 1-1.8 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, widening or parallel-sided above the base, (2)4-5(8)-veined, usually glabrous, occasionally hirsute, sometimes scabrous, margins firm, awns (10)15-20(25) mm, straight except the awns of the lowest spikelets occasionally contorted;

lemmas 6-12 mm, usually glabrous, sometimes scabrous, occasionally villous, awns (15)20-30 mm, straight;

paleas 6-10 mm, apices obtuse;

anthers 2-4 mm.

lanceolate, tapering from about midlength, adaxial surfaces glabrous, hyaline margins about 0.1 mm wide, strongly keeled distally, midvein scabrous distally, other veins smooth or scabrous, apices acute to acuminate, sometimes awned, awns 2-5 mm;

lower glumes 4-7 mm, 3-5-veined;

upper glumes 5-8 mm, 5-veined;

calluses glabrous;

lemmas 8-12 mm, lanceolate, glabrous or pilose, apices acute, awned, awns 20-40 mm, straight or flexuous;

paleas from slightly shorter than to longer than the lemmas, keels narrowly winged distally, not or scarcely extending beyond the intercostal region, distinctly outwardly curved below the apices, apices 0.3-0.5 mm wide;

anthers 1.5-2.5 mm.

usually mid-May to mid-June.

= 28.

= 42.