Flora of North America species comparison

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

15-40(65) cm, solitary, decumbent;

nodes glabrous.

smooth;

ligules 1-3.5 mm, truncate or slightly higher in the center, often lacerate;

blades 8-15(24) cm long, 2.5-7 mm wide, flat, erect or ascending, stiff or lax, smooth.

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.

(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.

2-12(16) cm long, (1)2-3(6) cm wide, ovate-spicate, sometimes basally interrupted, yellowish brown, often mottled, shiny;

branches usually 0.1-2(4) cm, appressed-ascending, the spikelets distal;

disarticulation above the glumes, beneath the florets.

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.

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

rachilla internodes usually 1-2 mm;

rachilla hairs 0.5-1 mm, often curly and tangled.

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.

lanceolate, glabrous;

lower glumes 3-4.5 mm;

upper glumes 5-8 mm;

callus hairs about 0.5 mm;

lemmas 4.5-7 mm, glabrous, apices minutely bifid, teeth shorter than 1 mm, awned, awns 4-10+ mm, arising from the upper 1/3, exceeding the lemma apices, flexuous, curved, or bent and twisted basally;

paleas subequal to or as long as the lemmas;

anthers 2-3.5 mm.

1.5-3(4) mm, glabrous.

1-2 mm, ovate, smooth, brown.

= 14, 28, 42.

= 14, 28.