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.

20-70 cm, erect or decumbent;

internodes mostly scabridulous or smooth, always 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.

usually shorter than the internodes, glabrous, smooth or scabridulous, usually without necrotic spots, not becoming spirally coiled when old;

ligules 1.2-3(5) mm, membranous throughout, acute, often lacerate;

blades 2-13 cm long, 1.2-2.5 mm wide, flat or loosely involute, scabridulous or glabrous abaxially, scabrous adaxially, usually without necrotic spots.

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.

numerous, terminal and axillary, 7-20 cm long, 0.3-1.4(3) cm wide, contracted, often lax, nodding, interrupted below;

primary branches 3.5-7.5 cm, ascending or diverging up to 70° from the rachises, spikelet-bearing to the base;

pedicels 1-3 mm, antrorsely scabrous;

disarticulation above the glumes.

1.7-3.1 mm, occasionally with 2 florets.

2-4 mm, often purplish, borne singly.

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.

1.2-2.8 mm, shorter than the florets, 1-veined, veins scabrous, apices often erose, unawned or awned, awns to 0.5 mm;

lower glumes 1.2-2 mm, acute to acuminate;

upper glumes 1.5-2.8 mm, acute;

lemmas 2-3.5(4) mm, lanceolate, mostly smooth, scabridulous distally, pubescent on the calluses, lower 1/2 of the midveins, and margins, hairs 0.5-1.5 mm, apices acuminate to acute, awned, awns 10-30 mm, scabrous, sinuous to flexuous;

paleas 1.8-3.4(3.8) mm, lanceolate, sparsely villous basally, apices acuminate to acute;

anthers 0.9-1.5 mm, yellowish.

0.9-1.6 mm, narrowly ellipsoid, brown.

1-2.2 mm, narrowly fusiform, brownish.

panicles not present.

= 40.

= 20, 40.