Flora of North America species comparison

10-120 cm, clumped, erect, usually glabrous, sometimes villous, sometimes scabridulous.

(10)50-80(130) cm, solitary or clumped, erect or decumbent, glabrous, sometimes scabrous or pubescent near the upper nodes.

mostly basal or evenly distributed;

sheaths variously pubescent or glabrous;

ligules 0.5-4 mm, truncate or rounded;

blades (3)10-20(40) cm long, 1-5 mm wide, flat, folded, or involute, erect and stiff or ascending and lax.

usually evenly distributed;

sheaths glabrous or pilose, throats often with 2+ mm hairs;

ligules 0.5-1(2) mm, obtuse, lacerate, sometimes ciliolate, hairs to 0.5 mm;

blades 5-15(18) cm long, 1.5-4(6) mm wide, flat or involute, lax, pubescent or pilose.

(5)20-30(50) cm long, (0.5)1-2.5(5) cm wide, spikelike to open, often interrupted basally, green, purplish, or tawny, usually silvery-shiny;

branches with the spikelets evenly distributed.

5-20 cm long, 1.5-7 cm wide, erect or nodding, glistening yellowish brown, sometimes purple-tinged or variegated;

branches 2-4(6) cm, ascending to divergent, often flexuous, sometimes naked below.

5-7.5 mm, sessile, subsessile, or on pedicels to 1.5(3.5) mm, with 2(3) florets;

rachilla internodes 0.5-1.5 mm;

rachilla hairs to 1 mm.

4-8 mm, subsessile or on pedicels to 5 mm, with (2)3(4) florets;

rachilla internodes to 1+ mm;

rachilla hairs to 1.5 mm;

disarticulation above the glumes, beneath the florets.

subequal to unequal, lanceolate, usually smooth, sometimes sparsely scabrous, sometimes pilose, with wide scarious margins, apices acute to acuminate, sometimes apiculate;

lower glumes 3-4(5.5) mm;

upper glumes 4-7 mm long, as long as or longer than the lowest florets, less than twice as wide as the lower glumes;

callus hairs to 1 mm;

lemmas 3-6(7) mm, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, glabrous or pilose, sometimes scabridulous, apices bifid, teeth usually shorter than 1 mm, awned, awns 3-8 mm, arising from the upper 1/3 of the lemmas and exceeding the apices, geniculate, twisted basally;

anthers 0.7-1.4 mm.

unequal, shiny;

lower glumes 2.5-4.7 mm, narrowly lanceolate to subulate;

upper glumes 4-7 mm long, as long as or longer than the lowest florets, twice as wide as the lower glumes, lance-elliptic, acute;

callus hairs to 0.5 mm;

lemmas 3.5-6.3 mm, ovate-lanceolate, minutely pubescent, bifid or bicuspidate, teeth conspicuous, usually 3-6 mm, awned, awns (3)5-9 mm, arising from the upper 1/3 of the lemmas and exceeding the apices, geniculate, tightly twisted below;

paleas 3-5.5 mm;

anthers 1.3-2.8 mm.

1.5-3(4) mm, glabrous.

2.5-3 mm, glabrous.

= 14, 28, 42.

= 28.