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.

to 80 cm, relatively soft, solitary or in small clumps.

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.

mostly glabrous, throat sometimes sparingly pilose, lower sheaths often wrinkled;

ligules 0.2-0.6 mm;

blades 6-12 cm long, 5-8 mm wide, loosely involute, disarticulating from the sheaths, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces glabrous or sparsely pilose, margins smooth.

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.

4-14 cm, with (1)2-3(7) branches;

branches 2-11 cm, alternate, loosely appressed, not twisted, lower and upper branches more or less equally imbricate, with 5-30 spikelets.

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

10-15 mm.

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.

straight, mostly appressed pubescent, only the margins glabrous;

lower glumes 7-10 mm, narrow, acuminate, obtuse, or rounded;

upper glumes 10-15 mm, acuminate (rarely obtuse);

lemmas mostly appressed pubescent, margins and basal portion of the keels glabrous, apices acuminate;

anthers 3-6.5 mm, well-filled, dehiscent at maturity.

= 60.

= 60.