Flora of North America species comparison

8-100 cm tall, about 1 mm thick, erect to decumbent, simple to profusely branched;

nodes sparsely to densely pilose.

30-150 cm tall, 2-4 mm thick, erect or spreading from a geniculate, non-cormous base, not succulent, glabrous throughout.

shorter or longer than the internodes, rounded, often with minute purple streaks, glabrous, margins shortly ciliate;

ligules to 0.8 mm;

blades 5-28 cm long, 4-14 mm wide, linear, more than 10 times longer than wide, thin, flat, glabrous on both surfaces or sparingly pilose adaxially, bases scabridulous near the margins, prominently veined.

often crowded basally;

sheaths rounded, usually longer than the internodes, hispid, hairs papillose-based, to 5 mm;

ligules 0.5-1.5 mm;

blades 3-30 cm long, 2-12 mm wide, linear, ascending to erect, flat, hirsute to sparsely pilose, greenish or purplish, bases truncate to subcordate and ciliate on the margins, apices acute.

7-27 cm long, 4-24 cm wide, 1/4 - 1/3 as long as the plants, diffuse, usually exserted at anthesis, not breaking at the base of the peduncles to become a tumbleweed;

rachises glabrous or sparsely pilose basally;

primary branches spreading, secondary branches and pedicels confined to the distal 2/3 secondary branches diverging to appressed, with 1-4 spikelets;

pedicels 3-15 mm, spreading to appressed, scabrous or hirsute;

pulvini glabrous or pilose.

12-30 cm long, 9-20 cm wide, usually 1-1.3 times longer than wide, diffuse;

primary branches 8-15 cm, alternate, divergent, slender, scabridulous, much branched, branches confined to the distal 2/3, secondary branches spreading, spikelets confined to the distal 1/2 of the branches;

pedicels 0.5-6 mm.

1.4-2.4 mm long, 0.5-0.7 mm wide, usually green, glabrous.

1.8-2.7 mm long, 0.8-1 mm wide, ellipsoid, dark green, often purple-tinged, usually glabrous, acute to acuminate.

0.5-0.9 mm, usually less than 1/2 as long as the spikelets, 3-4-veined, truncate to acuminate;

upper glumes 1.6-2 mm, 7-veined, veins not prominent;

lower lemmas 1.6-1.9 mm, 7-9-veined, veins not prominent;

lower paleas absent;

lower florets sterile;

upper florets 1.5-1.7 mm long, about 0.4 mm wide, often dark brown, sometimes disarticulating, apices minutely papillose.

1/3 – 1/2 as long as the spikelets, glabrous, deltoid, acute;

upper glumes and lower lemmas subequal, equaling or exceeding the upper florets, smooth, faintly 5-veined, sparsely pilose with short hairs near the margins and apices, acute;

lower florets sterile;

lower paleas absent or much shorter than the lower lemmas;

upper florets 1.5-1.8 mm, ellipsoid, smooth, lustrous, grayish-brown at maturity, apices sparsely puberulent, obtuse to subacute.

= 18.

= 36.