Flora of North America species comparison

20-70 cm, erect or decumbent;

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

5-45 cm, arising from the bases of old depressed culms, compressed-keeled, developing branches below the lower leaf nodes;

internodes mostly glabrous, sometimes minutely puberulent 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.

longer than the internodes, keeled, keels scabridulous, not becoming papery or spirally coiled when old;

ligules 0.5-1.5 mm, membranous, truncate to obtuse, erose, without lateral lobes;

blades 1-15 cm long, 0.8-2 mm wide, flat to conduplicate, smooth or scabridulous abaxially, hirtellous adaxially, midveins thickened and whitish proximally.

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.

2-20 cm long, (0.2)2.5-6 cm wide, diffuse;

primary branches 0.4-6 cm long, about 0.1 mm thick, ascending, diverging 10-60° from the rachises, naked basally;

pedicels 0.2-7 mm, glabrous.

2-4 mm, often purplish, borne singly.

1.3-2.1 mm, dark purplish to plumbeous, occasionally with 2 florets.

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, 0.4-1.3 mm, glabrous, 1-veined, apices scabrous, acute to obtuse, sometimes erose or notched, unawned;

lemmas 1.2-2 mm, oblong-elliptic, dark purplish to plumbeous, glabrous, faintly 3-veined, apices acute to obtuse, unawned;

paleas 1.3-2.1 mm, oblong-elliptic, glabrous, acute to obtuse;

anthers 0.6-0.9 mm, dark purple.

1-2.2 mm, narrowly fusiform, brownish.

0.6-0.8 mm, ovoid, brownish.

panicles not present.

= 20, 40.

= 42.