Flora of North America species comparison

30-150 (200) cm, glabrous or pubescent, sometimes scabrous.

60-120(150) cm, glabrous, smooth.

closed for less than 1/3 their length, persistent, glabrous or pilose, smooth or scabrous, sometimes scabrous or pilose only distally or on the distal margins;

collars usually densely pubescent or with a few hairs at the margins, sometimes glabrous;

ligules 0.2-5 mm, usually ciliate, abaxial surfaces puberulent;

blades 1-6.5 mm wide, conduplicate, convolute, or flat, 0.5-2(2.5) mm in diameter when convolute, deciduous, abaxial surfaces scabrous or smooth, glabrous or the bases pubescent, adaxial surfaces puberulent to pubescent, veins 9-15(17), ribs (3)5-15(17);

abaxial sclerenchyma forming more or less continuous bands, sometimes reduced to small strands;

adaxial sclerenchyma sometimes present;

girders or pillars present at most veins.

closed for about 3/4 their length, slowly shredding into fibers;

collars glabrous;

ligules 0.1-0.3 mm;

blades varying within a plant, blades of the vegetative shoots to 60 cm long, (0.2)0.3-0.6 mm in diameter, conduplicate, veins 3-5(7), ribs 1(3), abaxial surfaces smooth or sparsely scabrous, adaxial surfaces scabrous, cauline blades to 25 cm long, 2-4 mm wide, flat;

abaxial sclerenchyma of the vegetative shoot blades in 3-5 small strands less than twice as wide as high, of the upper cauline blades in 7-11 small strands;

adaxial sclerenchyma absent.

10-25(30) cm, open, with (1)2(4) branches per node;

branches spreading and lax.

6-18 cm, open or contracted, somewhat secund, with 1-2 branches per node;

branches more or less erect, scabrous, lower branches with 2+ spikelets.

8-18(20) mm, borne towards the ends of the branches, with 3-6(8) florets.

7-14 mm, with (2)3-6(9) florets.

lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely scabrous at the apices;

lower glumes (4)4.5-6.7(8) mm;

upper glumes (5)6-10 mm;

lemmas (7)7.5-11 mm, lanceolate, scabrous, puberulent, sometimes minutely bidentate, acute, usually awned, rarely unawned, awns (1)2-3(4) mm;

paleas shorter than to longer than the lemmas, pubescent or glabrous on the margins, intercostal region usually puberulent distally;

anthers (3)4-7.5(8.5) mm;

ovary apices densely pubescent.

exceeded by the upper florets; ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, mostly smooth or scabrous on the upper midvein;

lower glumes 3-5.5 mm;

upper glumes 4-6.5(7) mm;

lemmas (4.7)5-8.5 mm, lanceolate, mostly smooth, sometimes scabrous near the apices, awns 1.5-6 mm;

paleas as long as the lemmas, intercostal region smooth or scabrous distally;

anthers 2.5-4.5 mm;

ovary apices pubescent.

= 56.

= 28.