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.

60-130 cm, stout, erect;

internodes mostly smooth, sometimes 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, smooth or scabridulous, not becoming spirally coiled, basal sheaths rounded;

ligules 10-30 mm, firm and brown basally, membranous distally, acuminate to obtuse;

blades (10)20-65 cm long, 3-6 mm wide, flat or inrolled at the margins, scabrous abaxially, scabridulous or smooth 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.

15-55 cm long, 1-15 cm wide, contracted to open, greenish-tan to purplish;

primary branches 3-13 cm, narrowly ascending or diverging up to 60° from the rachises, stiff, spikelet-bearing to the base, lower branches with 30-60 spikelets;

pedicels 0.1-2.5 mm, usually shorter than the spikelets, scabridulous or smooth, strongly divergent.

1.7-3.1 mm, occasionally with 2 florets.

2-3.5 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, 2-3.5 mm, usually longer than the florets, scabridulous or smooth, 1(2)-veined, acute to acuminate, usually unawned, rarely awned, awns to 0.2 mm;

lemmas 2-2.9 mm, oblong-elliptic, tan to purplish, smooth or scabridulous, apices acute, often bifid, teeth to 0.2 mm, unawned or awned, awns to 2 mm;

paleas 2-3 mm, oblong-elliptic, scabridulous or smooth, acute;

anthers 1-2.1 mm, yellowish to purplish.

0.9-1.6 mm, narrowly ellipsoid, brown.

1.1-1.5 mm, fusiform, reddish-brown.

= 40.

= 22, 24, 29, 30.