Flora of North America species comparison

to 150 cm tall, to 10 mm thick, erect, terete, solitary or in small clumps, succulent, glabrous, often with adventitious roots from the lower nodes, having an unpleasant, sulphurous odor when fresh.

mostly glabrous, throats sparsely pilose, lower sheaths sometimes somewhat wrinkled;

ligules 1-2 mm;

blades 8-12 mm wide, flat to loosely involute, glabrous, margins usually smooth, sometimes slightly scabrous, apices acuminate.

12-25 cm, with 3-25 branches, smoothly cylindrical, often partially enclosed in the uppermost sheath;

rachises twisted, glabrous;

branches 2-8 cm, usually closely appressed and twisted, lower branches noticeably longer and less closely imbricate than the upper branches, all branches with axes rarely extending past the distal spikelets, with 8-30 spikelets.

8-25 mm, usually appressed, often appearing twisted, those on the lower branches usually less closely imbricate than those on the upper branches.

usually curved, sides and keels glabrous, scabrous, or hispid, apices acuminate to obtuse or rounded;

lower glumes 6-12 mm;

upper glumes 8-25 mm, 1-veined;

lemmas glabrous or sparsely appressed pubescent on the sides, keels glabrous, apices obtuse, rounded or lobed;

paleas slightly exceeding the lemmas, thin, papery, glabrous, apices usually rounded, rarely acuminate;

anthers 3-6 mm.

= 60.