Flora of North America species comparison

1-12 cm, slender.

10-33(45) cm, usually decumbent, terete;

nodes terete, 0(1) exserted.

closed for 1/6 – 1/4 their length, terete;

ligules 1-3 mm, milky white to hyaline, smooth;

blades 0.5-2 mm wide, flat or folded, or slightly inrolled, thin, without papillae (at 100x), apices narrowly prow-shaped.

closed for 1/7 – 1/5(1/3) their length, terete, usually lustrous, bases of basal sheaths glabrous;

ligules (1.5)2-7 mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous, margins usually decurrent, apices obtuse to acuminate;

innovation blades similar in texture and shape to those of the culms;

cauline blades 2-9 cm, gradually increasing or decreasing in length upwards, 1.5-3 mm wide, folded to involute, moderately thick, soft, abaxial surfaces smooth, adaxial surfaces smooth or somewhat scabrous, usually glabrous, infrequently sparsely hispidulous, apices narrowly prow-shaped.

all or mainly intra-vaginal.

extra- and intravaginal.

1-3 cm, erect, contracted, usually exserted from the sheaths;

branches to 1.5 cm, erect to steeply ascending, slender, sulcate or angled, smooth or the angles sparsely scabrous;

pedicels shorter than the spikelets.

2.5-6(12) cm, erect, narrowly lanceolate, contracted or narrowly ovate in some bulbiferous plants, moderately congested, with 7-40 spikelets;

nodes with (1)2(4) branches;

branches 1-3 cm, erect to ascending, straight, sulcate, smooth or sparsely to moderately scabrous, with 1-10 spikelets in the distal 1/3 – 2/3.

3-4 mm, laterally compressed, green or anthocyanic;

florets 2-3;

rachilla internodes shorter than 1 mm, smooth.

4.8-7.4 mm, lengths 3.5-4 times widths, lanceolate, weakly laterally compressed, sometimes bulbiferous, lustrous;

florets (2)3-5(6), normal or bulb-forming;

rachilla internodes 0.8-2 mm, smooth, sometimes sparsely hispidulous.

usually equaling or exceeding the lowest lemmas, sometimes also equaling or exceeding the upper florets, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels smooth;

lower glumes 3-veined;

calluses glabrous;

lemmas 2.5-3 mm, lanceolate, distinctly keeled, thin, usually glabrous, keels and marginal veins rarely sparsely puberulent proximally, apices acute;

palea keels scabrous;

anthers 0.2-0.8 mm.

mostly broadly scarious, somewhat lustrous, keels indistinct, smooth or sparsely scabrous distally;

lower glumes 3-veined;

upper glumes frequently exceeding the lowest lemmas;

calluses glabrous or with a crown of hairs, hairs to 2 mm;

lemmas (3.3)3.5-7 mm, lanceolate, usually weakly keeled, more or less evenly and somewhat loosely to densely hairy over the proximal 1/3-1/2, hairs usually longer than 0.5 mm, sparsely scabrous in the middle 1/3, smooth distally, lateral veins obscure, margins weakly inrolled, broadly scarious, glabrous, apices long-scarious, acute to shortly obtuse, often erose, often bronze-colored below the apices;

palea keels sparsely scabrous, softly puberulent at midlength, intercostal regions softly puberulent;

anthers usually all aborted late in development and 0.8-1.8 mm, infrequently well developed and 2-2.8 mm.

= 14.

= 63, 70.