Flora of North America species comparison

20-210 cm, stout, not woody;

nodes puberulent;

internodes usually with papillose-based hairs, sometimes nearly glabrous, not succulent.

15-100 cm tall, 0.5-1(2) mm thick, sprawling to erect, without cormlike bases, freely branching and rooting from the lower nodes;

nodes prominent, glabrous or pubescent;

internodes not succulent, pilose.

shorter than the internodes, rounded, hairs papillose-based;

collars pilose;

ligules 0.2-0.5 mm;

blades 2-7 cm long, 5-20 mm wide, 4-6 times longer than wide, lanceolate, thin, flat, sparsely to densely pilose, hairs papillose-based, bases asymmetrically cordate to subcordate, lower margins ciliate, papillose.

numerous;

sheaths terete, densely pilose, with papillose-based and caducous hairs;

ligules membranous, ciliate, cilia 1-3 mm;

blades 15-40 cm long, 7-25 mm wide.

6-20 cm long, 4-11 cm wide, included or shortly exserted at maturity, dense;

branches stiff, appressed to spreading, spikelets solitary, confined to the distal portions;

pedicels 1-9 mm, scabrous and sparsely pilose.

4-24 cm, almost as wide as long, diffuse, partially included or exerted;

primary branches to 10 cm, alternate, ascending to reflexed, branching in the distal 2/3;

pedicels 9-20 mm, threadlike.

4-6 mm, ovoid, usually glabrous.

1-1.4 mm long, 0.5-0.6 mm wide, not secund, lanceoloid to narrowly ovoid, plano-convex in side view, sparsely pubescent.

2.8-3.6 mm, 1/2 - 3/4 as long as the spikelets, 5-7-veined, veins scabridulous distally, apices attenuate;

upper glumes 4-5.1 mm, slightly exceeding the upper florets, 11-13(15)-veined, veins scabridulous distally;

lower florets sterile;

lower lemmas 4-4.8 mm, slightly exceeding the upper florets, 9-13-veined, veins scabridulous distally;

lower paleas 1.2-1.6 mm, 1/2 or less the length of the upper florets, truncate to bilobed;

upper florets 3-3.8 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, smooth or striate, more or less shiny, stramineous to orange, red-brown, or blackish, persisting in the spikelets or disarticulating at maturity.

0.4-0.8 mm, 1/3 – 1/2 as long as the spikelets, 1-3-veined, subacute;

upper glumes 0.8-1.2 mm, arising 0.2 mm above the lower glumes, 3-5-veined;

lower florets sterile;

lower lemmas 0.1-0.2 mm longer than the upper glumes, 3-5-veined;

lower paleas 0.5-0.8 mm, hyaline;

upper florets 0.8-1.2 mm long, 0.4-0.6 mm wide, finely rugose, lemmas strongly convex.

= 36, 40, 42, 49, 54, 72.

= 18.