Flora of North America species comparison

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

20-80 (100) cm, erect, glabrous or retrorsely pubescent below the 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 concentrated on the lower 1/3 of the culms;

sheaths glabrous or sparsely retrorse-pilose, sometimes scabridulous;

ligules (1.2)2.5^1(6) mm, truncate to rounded;

blades to 15 cm long, 2-7 mm wide, flat, ascending, lax, smooth or scabrous, sometimes sparsely pilose, often involute near the sometimes prowlike apices.

(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.

(10)20-40(50) cm long, usually 1-1.5 cm wide, stiffly erect, green, tan, or purple-tinged;

branches appressed-ascending, the spikelets evenly distributed.

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.

4-7(8) mm, usually subsessile, rarely on pedicels to 4 mm, ovate, with 2(3) florets;

rachilla internodes 1.5-2 mm;

rachilla hairs to 1 mm.

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.

subequal, usually longer than the lowest florets;

lower glumes 4-7 mm;

upper glumes 4-6.5 mm, a little wider than the lower glumes;

callus hairs shorter than 0.5 mm;

lemmas 4-6.5 mm, lanceolate, firmer than the glumes, scabridulous-puberulent, obscurely bifid, unawned or awned, awns to 2 mm, arising just below and rarely exceeding the apices;

paleas shorter than the lemmas;

anthers (0.6)1(1.5) mm.

1.5-3(4) mm, glabrous.

to 3 mm, pubescent.

= 14, 28, 42.

= 14.