Flora of North America species comparison

10-60 cm.

(15)20-40 cm, erect or decumbent, with 1-2 exserted nodes.

closed for 1/3 – 2/3 their length, terete, smooth;

ligules 1.5-3.5 mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous;

blades 1.5-4 mm wide, flat, thin, soft, apices broadly prow-shaped.

closed for 1/5-1/3 their length, terete, smooth, bases of basal sheaths glabrous, distal sheath lengths 4-33 times blade lengths, smooth, glabrous;

ligules (1.5)2-5 mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous, margins distinctly decurrent, apices obtuse to acute, ligules of innovations prominent, milky white;

innovation blades similar to the cauline blades;

cauline blades gradually reduced in length upwards, (1)1.5-3 mm wide, flat, thick, fairly firm, smooth or sparsely scabrous, margins white, apices broadly prow-shaped, flag leaf blades 0.2-1.8 cm, infrequently absent.

mixed intra- and extravaginal.

mainly intravaginal.

4-15 cm, nodding, open, with numerous spikelets and 1-2 branches per node;

branches (2)3-7 cm, spreading to reflexed, lower branches usually reflexed, flexuous, usually terete, smooth or sparsely scabrous, with (3)6-18 spikelets.

4-8 cm, erect, linear to narrowly lanceoloid, contracted, moderately congested, with 9-35 spikelets;

nodes with 1-2 branches;

branches 1-2.5 cm, erect to steeply ascending, straight, sulcate or angled, angles sparsely to moderately scabrous, with 1-4 spikelets in the distal 1/2.

4-6 mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, usually partly to wholly purplish, with 3-5 florets;

rachilla internodes shorter than 1 mm, smooth.

7-9 mm, lengths 3.5-4 times widths, lanceolate, fairly compressed, pale, slightly lustrous;

florets (2)3-4;

rachilla internodes 1-2 mm.

narrowly to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels smooth or nearly so;

lower glumes 1-veined;

upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas;

calluses webbed;

lemmas 2-3.5 mm, lanceolate, partly purple to fairly strongly purple, distinctly keeled, keels and marginal veins short- to long-villous, keels hairy for 2h-ls their length, lateral veins usually sparsely softly puberulent at least on 1 side, lateral veins obscure to moderately prominent, intercostal regions smooth, minutely bumpy, glabrous, apices acute, slightly bronze-colored or not;

palea keels scabrous, usually softly puberulent at midlength;

anthers 0.6-1 mm.

lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, margins broadly scarious, keels indistinct, smooth or sparsely scabrous;

lower glumes 3-veined, slightly to distinctly shorter than the lowest lemma;

calluses glabrous;

lemmas 4.5-6 mm, lanceolate, somewhat weakly keeled, glabrous or the keels, marginal veins, and intercostal regions very sparsely puberulent over the proximal 1/3, lateral veins obscure, margins strongly inrolled proximally, broadly scarious distally, glabrous, apices acute;

palea keels scabrous, glabrous or puberulent at midlength;

anthers 2.2-3.5 mm.

= 28.

= 42.