Flora of North America species comparison

(60)100-250 cm tall, about 10 mm thick, mostly erect, sometimes geniculate and rooting at the lower nodes;

nodes pubescent or glabrous.

usually shorter than the internodes, glabrous or pubescent, sometimes with papillose-based hairs, margins sometimes ciliate;

collars densely pubescent, hairs appressed or divergent;

ligules 1-3 mm;

blades (15)30-75(100) cm long, 10-35 mm wide, flat, erect or ascending, glabrous or pubescent, sometimes with appressed papillose-based hairs, margins scabrous, sometimes ciliate basally, midveins conspicuous, sunken, whitish.

20-65 cm, about 1/3 as wide as long, open, rachises smooth or scabrous;

primary branches usually more than 20, 12-40 cm, axes 0.4-0.6 mm wide, not winged, ascending, those of the lower node(s) verticillate and pilose at the base, upper axils glabrous, lower branches naked basally;

secondary and tertiary branches well-developed;

pedicels 0.5-1.5 mm, unequal, straight or curved, glabrous or with a single setaceous hair near the apex.

2.7-3.6 mm long, 0.9-1.1 mm wide, oblong-ellipsoid, usually glabrous (rarely densely covered with papillose-based hairs), solitary, paired (or in triplets), usually appressed to the branch axes.

scarcely separate, rachilla between the glumes not pronounced;

lower glumes 0.8-1.2 mm, 1-3-veined, obtuse or truncate, glabrous;

upper glumes 2.1-3.5 mm, 5-veined, glabrous;

lower lemmas 2.1-3.5 mm, subequal, glabrous, 5-veined, without cross venation, acute, muticous or mucronate;

lower florets staminate;

upper lemmas 1.9-2.4 mm, ellipsoid, pale, glabrous, apices acute, mucronulate;

anthers 1.2-2.2 mm.

= 18, 32, 36, 44, 48.