Bouteloua elata

Description

HABIT Perennial;caespitose.Rootstock evident.Culms erect;70?120(?140) cm long.Lateral branches lacking.Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface;outer margin glabrous,or hairy.Leaf-sheath oral hairs ciliate.Ligule a fringe of hairs;0.5 mm long.Leaf-blades flat,or conduplicate,or involute;20?50 cm long;3?4 mm wide.Leaf-blade apex attenuate.INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence composed of racemes.Racemes 9?20;borne along a central axis;unilateral;2?8 cm long;bearing 40?100 fertile spikelets on each.Central inflorescence axis 20?40 cm long.Rhachis semiterete;tuberculate on margins;ciliate on margins;terminating in a spikelet.Rhachis hairs 2?3 mm long.Spikelet packing broadside to rhachis;crowded.Spikelets pectinate;solitary.Fertile spikelets sessile