Flora of North America species comparison

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

5-15(20) cm, up to twice as tall as the vegetative shoot leaves, usually erect, sometimes semi-prostrate, 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 1/2 their length, glabrous, persistent;

collars glabrous;

ligules 0.1-0.5 mm;

blades 0.5-1 mm in diameter, conduplicate, often curved or somewhat falcate, abaxial surfaces smooth or sparsely scabrous, adaxial surfaces scabrous, veins 5-7, ribs 3-5;

abaxial sclerenchyma in 3-7 strands, usually less than twice as wide as high;

adaxial sclerenchyma absent.

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

branches spreading and lax.

1-2(2.5) cm, contracted, usually panicles, sometimes racemes, with 1-2 branches per node;

branches erect, lower branches usually with 1-2 spikelets, sometimes more.

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

(3)4-5.5(7) mm, with 3-4(6) 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 to ovate-lanceolate, mostly glabrous and smooth, sometimes scabrous distally;

lower glumes 1-3.5 mm;

upper glumes 2.2-3.2 mm;

lemmas 2.9-3.5(4.4) mm, ovate, apices scabrous and minutely bidentate, awns (0.5)1.4-2(3) mm, usually slightly subterminal, curved or slightly twisted;

paleas about as long as or slightly longer than the lemmas, intercostal region smooth or scabrous distally;

anthers 0.4-0.8(1.1) mm;

ovary apices glabrous.

leaf sheaths usually somewhat inflated;

flag leaf blades 0.5-5(8) mm.

= 56.

= 28.