Flora of North America species comparison

20-95 cm tall, 0.8-1.5 mm thick.

1-12 cm, slender.

closed for 1/3-2/3 their length;

ligules 0.2-3(4) mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous, truncate to obtuse;

blades 1-3.6 (6) mm wide, flat, thin, lax, veins prominent.

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.

mainly pseudointravaginal.

all or mainly intra-vaginal.

4-20(24) cm long, less than 1/4 the plant height, lax;

nodes with 1-3 branches;

branches ascending to spreading, lax, angled, angles prominent, scabrous.

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.

3-5.6 mm, laterally compressed;

florets 2-5;

rachilla internodes glabrous, usually shorter than 1 mm.

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

florets 2-3;

rachilla internodes shorter than 1 mm, smooth.

2/3 – 3/4 as long as the adjacent lemmas, distinctly keeled;

lower glumes 1(3)-veined;

upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas;

calluses webbed;

lemmas 2.4-4 mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, usually glabrous, bases of marginal veins rarely sparsely softly puberulent, lateral veins prominent, intercostal regions smooth, minutely bumpy, apices obtuse to sharply acute or acuminate;

palea keels scabrous;

anthers 0.4-1.5 mm.

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.

= 14.