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.

50-150 cm, stout, erect, not rooting at the lower nodes;

internodes mostly glabrous, sometimes puberulent 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, basal sheaths laterally compressed, keeled, not becoming spirally coiled when old;

ligules 10-35 mm, firm and brown basally, membranous distally, acuminate;

blades 25-55 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, flat or folded, firm, scabridulous abaxially, scabrous and shortly pubescent 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.

15-50 cm long, 0.6-3 cm wide, often purplish-tinged;

primary branches 0.5-7 cm, appressed or strongly ascending, rarely spreading as much as 20° from the rachises;

pedicels 0.5-1.2 mm, scabrous.

1.7-3.1 mm, occasionally with 2 florets.

2.4-3.5 mm, light grayish.

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.

equal, 2-3.5 mm, shorter than or equal to the florets, scabrous or smooth, 1-veined, obtuse to acute, occasionally bifid and the teeth to 0.3 mm, unawned, rarely mucronate, mucros less than 0.2 mm;

lemmas 2.4-3.5 mm, lanceolate, scabrous or smooth, rarely puberulent near the base, apices obtuse to acute, unawned or awned, awns to 4 mm, straight;

paleas 2.4-3.5 mm, lanceolate, obtuse;

anthers 1.1-1.5 mm, purplish.

0.9-1.6 mm, narrowly ellipsoid, brown.

1.2-1.6 mm, fusiform, reddish-brown.

= 40.

= 20, 26.