Flora of North America species comparison

5-30 cm tall, 0.4-1 mm thick, decumbent, geniculate, or erect;

internodes usually nodulose (occasionally smooth) for most of their length, puberulent or nodulose below the nodes.

20-60 cm tall, 1-2 mm thick, erect, not rooting at the lower nodes;

internodes mostly glabrous or sparsely hispidulous, always hispidulous below the nodes.

shorter or longer than the internodes, glabrous;

ligules 0.8-3 mm, membranous, acute to truncate, erose;

blades 0.4-6.5 cm long, 0.5-4.2 mm wide, flat or involute, straight or arcuate-spreading, glabrous abaxially, hirtellous adaxially.

shorter than the internodes, laterally compressed, keeled, smooth or scabridulous, not becoming spirally coiled when old;

ligules 0.2-0.8 mm, membranous, truncate;

blades 2-22 cm long, 0.5-2.7(3.5) mm wide, flat to folded, smooth or scabridulous abaxially, strigose adaxially.

1-15 cm long, 0.1-1.7 cm wide, exserted, narrow or spikelike, rachises usually concealed by the branches;

primary branches 0.4-5 cm, usually closely appressed at maturity, rarely diverging up to 20° from the rachises;

pedicels 0.2-2 mm, setulose.

4-14 cm long, 0.1-0.8 cm wide, spikelike, not dense;

primary branches 0.4-3 cm, appressed;

pedicels 0.1-1.2(4) mm.

1.7-3.1 mm, occasionally with 2 florets.

2.5-3.6 mm, dark green or plumbeous, occasionally with 2 florets.

subequal, 0.6-2 mm, 1/3– 1/2 as long as the lemmas, green, 1(2)-veined, acute, sometimes mucronate, mucros less than 0.2 mm;

lemmas 1.7-2.6(3.1) mm, lanceolate, dark greenish, plumbeous, or mottled, glabrous, apices scabridulous, acute to acuminate, sometimes mucronate, mucros to 0.5 mm;

paleas 1.2-2.4(2.9) mm, lanceolate, acute;

anthers 0.9-1.6 mm, yellow to purplish.

subequal, 1.2-3 mm, about 3/4 as long as the spikelets, 1-veined, gradually acute to acuminate, occasionally mucronate, mucros to 0.3 mm;

lemmas 2.5-3.6 mm, lanceolate, sometimes mottled with greenish-black areas, with short, appressed hairs on the basal 1/2 - 3/4 of the midveins and margins, apices acuminate, sometimes mucronate, mucros to 0.6 mm;

paleas 2.4-3.6 mm, lanceolate, glabrous, acuminate;

anthers 1.2-1.8 mm, greenish.

0.9-1.6 mm, narrowly ellipsoid, brown.

1.6-2.3 mm, fusiform, brownish.

= 40.

= 20.