Flora of North America species comparison

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

30-60 cm.

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, glabrous or scabrous-pubescent, shredding into fibers, bases red-scarious;

collars glabrous;

ligules 0.5-1 mm long;

vegetative shoot blades to about 2 mm wide when flat, 0.5-1 mm in diameter when loosely conduplicate, deep green, abaxial surfaces more or less uniformly scabrous, adaxial surfaces hispid or pilose on the ribs;

abaxial sclerenchyma in 5-9 small strands;

adaxial sclerenchyma absent;

cauline blades 1.4-2.5 mm wide, flat.

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

branches spreading and lax.

(4)7-12(15) cm, open, lax, secund or partially secund, with 1-2 branches per node;

branches somewhat stiff or lax, lower branches with 2-5 spikelets.

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

pseudoviviparous, varying in length with the stage of vegetative proliferation, most florets replaced by bracts, the glumes and sometimes the lowest floret more or less normally developed or only slightly elongated, mostly deep green or reddish tinged.

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.

more or less normally developed, lanceolate, apices scabrous;

lower glumes (2.5)3.5-6 mm;

upper glumes 4.5-6.5(8) mm;

lemmas and bracts glabrous or pubescent, smooth or scabrous, sometimes mucronate, mucros to 0.5 mm;

paleas, if present, about as long as or shorter than the lemmas, intercostal region puberulent distally;

anthers not developed or abortive, to 2 mm;

ovaries not developed.

= 56.

= ca. 70.