Flora of North America species comparison

(10) 30-110 cm, round or basally compressed, tillering from the basal nodes, not branching from the aerial nodes, mostly glabrous, sometimes pilose basally;

internodes solid.

(3)10-250(300) cm, usually ascending to erect, often geniculate at the lower nodes, occasionally prostrate and rooting at the lower nodes, often branching at the aerial nodes;

nodes usually glabrous;

internodes usually hollow.

sometimes with a pilose collar;

ligules 1-2 mm, truncate, erose;

blades (2)8-35 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, glabrous, strigose, or pilose.

usually primarily cauline, occasionally in basal rosettes;

sheaths open;

ligules 0.2-10(15) mm, obtuse to attenuate, usually membranous, sometimes ciliate;

blades flat, involute when dry, usually ascending to erect, apices attenuate.

8-20 cm, with 2-15 subdigitate or racemose branches;

secondary panicles often hidden in the lowest leaf sheaths;

branches 2-19 cm, ascending to spreading at maturity.

4-12 mm, light brown to dark olive green, with 4-13 florets, often widely diverging at anthesis.

rounded to slightly keeled, distant to tightly imbricate, not conspicuously pubescent, with (2)3-12(20) bisexual florets;

rachillas rarely prolonged.

narrowly triangular to ovate, acute;

lower glumes 2.3-4.8 mm;

upper glumes 3.3-6 mm;

lemmas 3.5-5 mm, membranous, ovate to obovate, lateral veins glabrous or sericeous, hairs often restricted to the basal portion, sometimes also sericeous on the midvein and between the veins, apices obtuse to truncate, usually emarginate, unawned, sometimes mucronate;

paleas ciliate on the margins;

anthers 3, 0.3-1.6 mm.

usually unequal, sometimes subequal, exceeded by the florets, membranous, rounded to weakly keeled, 1-veined, veins scabrous, apices unawned (rarely mucronate);

lower glumes 0.5-4.9 mm;

upper glumes 0.9-6 mm;

florets usually bisexual;

calluses distinct or poorly developed, glabrous or pubescent;

lemmas membranous, usually pubescent at least over the lower portion of the veins, 3(5)-veined, apices entire or minutely bilobed, unawned, mucronate, or awned;

paleas usually subequal to the lemmas, membranous or hyaline;

anthers 1-3, 0.1-2.7 mm.

1.5-2.3 mm long, 0.9-1 mm wide, strongly dorsally compressed.

obovate to elliptic, falling free of the lemmas and paleas.

inflorescences terminal, panicles of 2-150 non-disarticulating, spikelike branches, usually exceeding the leaves;

branches 1-22 cm, digitate, subdigitate, or racemose on the rachises, 1-sided, usually spikelet-bearing throughout their length, spikelets in 2 rows, axes terminating in a functional spikelet, lower branches occasionally with secondary branching;

secondary panicles sometimes present, axillary to and concealed by the lower sheaths, their florets not disarticulating;

disarticulation in the primary panicles beneath the florets.

= 10.

= 40, 60, 80.