Flora of North America species comparison

20-70 cm, erect or decumbent;

internodes mostly scabridulous or smooth, always scabridulous below the nodes.

25-95 cm tall, 0.8-1.5 mm thick, erect or ascending;

internodes smooth, shiny, and glabrous for most of their length, scabridulous immediately below the nodes.

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.

glabrous, margins hyaline;

ligules 0.3-1 mm, membranous, truncate, ciliolate;

blades 4-16 cm long, 2-7 mm wide, flat, glabrous, usually smooth, occasionally scabridulous.

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.

4-18 cm long, 0.2-0.8 cm wide, narrow, usually exserted;

axillary panicles usually exserted, sometimes partially included in the subtending sheath;

primary branches 0.6-4 cm, ascending to appressed;

pedicels 0.3-1.6 mm, strigose.

2-4 mm, often purplish, borne singly.

1.6-3 mm, erect, overlapping the next spikelet on the branch by 1/2 its length.

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.

equal to subequal, 1-2.5 mm, much shorter than the florets, scabridulous (particularly over the veins), 1-veined, narrowing from above the broad, overlapping bases to the acute apices, unawned or awned, awns to 1 mm;

lemmas 1.6-2.8 mm, lanceolate, hairy on the calluses, lower 1/2 of the midveins, and margins, hairs 0.3-0.5 mm, apices acuminate, unawned or awned, awns to 1 mm;

paleas 1.6-2.9 mm, lanceolate, basal 1/2 with hairs shorter than 1.

1-2.2 mm, narrowly fusiform, brownish.

1-1.5 mm, fusiform, brown.

panicles not present.

mm, apices scabridulous, acuminate;

anthers 0.4-1 mm, yellow.

= 20, 40.

= 40.