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.

(50)80-150 cm, stout, erect, not conspicuously branched;

internodes smooth for most of their length, smooth or scabridulous 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 or longer than the internodes, glabrous or puberulent, basal sheaths laterally compressed, usually keeled;

ligules 10-25 mm, membranous throughout, acuminate, lacerate;

blades 20-50 cm long, 2-6 mm wide, flat or folded, scabrous abaxially, smooth or scabridulous 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.

20-45 cm long, 3-15 cm wide, loosely contracted to open, light purplish to light brownish;

primary branches 1-17 cm, lax, loosely appressed or diverging up to 70° from the rachises, naked basally;

pedicels 0.5-3 mm, smooth or scabridulous.

1.7-3.1 mm, occasionally with 2 florets.

2.2-3.2 mm.

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, 2.2-3.2 mm, exceeding the florets, scabridulous to scabrous, faintly 1-veined, acute to obtuse, usually unawned, occasionally awned, awns to 0.2 mm;

lemmas 2-3 mm, oblong-elliptic, shortly pubescent on the lower 1/2 - 3/4, apices acute, usually awned, sometimes unawned, awns to 15 mm, flexuous, purplish;

paleas 1.8-2.9 mm, oblong-elliptic, acute;

anthers 1.2-1.6 mm, yellowish to purplish.

0.9-1.6 mm, narrowly ellipsoid, brown.

1.3-1.6 mm, fusiform, reddish-brown.

= 40.

= 24, 26, 28, 40, 42, 46, 60, 64.