Saccharum brevibarbe (Michx.) Pers.

Erianthus brevibarbis Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 55. 1803
Saccharum brevibarbe Pers. Syn. PI. 1 : 103. 1805.
Erianthus alopecuroides brevibarbis Vasey, Grasses U. S. 17. 1883.
Erianthus saccharoides brevibarbis Hack, in DC. Monog. Phan. 6 : 131. 1889.
Stems 1-1.5 m. tall, the nodes pubescent with readily deciduous hairs, the summit and panicle-axis glabrous; leafsheaths rough, the summit appressed-hirsute ; blades 1.5-4 dm. long, 6-10 mm. wide, rough ; panicle 2-3 dm. long, about 3 cm. wide, its branches erect, the larger 2-7 cm. long ; spikelets crowded, exceeding the basal hairs and a little less than twice as long as the internodes ; outer 2 scales 8-9 mm. long, sparingly pilose; fourth scale usually entire at the apex, the awn straight, 1.5-2.5 cm. long.
Type locality : Tennessee.
Distribution : Delaware to Florida, west to Louisiana.

P erennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Rhizome short and compact, stems close, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem nodes bearded or hairy, Stem internodes solid or spongy, Stems with inflorescence 1-2 m tall, Stems with inflorescence 2-6 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy at summit, throat, or collar, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 1-2 cm wide, Leaf blades 2 or more cm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule a fringed, ciliate, or lobed membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence an open panicle, openly paniculate, bran ches spreading, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelets paired at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets in paired units, 1 sessile, 1 pedicellate, Spikelets bisexual, Inflorescence disarticulating between nodes or joints of rachis, rachis fragmenting, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Spikelets falling with parts of disarticulating rachis or pedicel, Inflorescence branches deciduous, falling intact, Spikelets conspicuously hairy , Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glumes 1 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyali ne, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma 3 nerved, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn 1-2 cm long, Lemma awn 2-4 cm long or longer, Lemma awned from tip, Lemma awns straight or curved to base, Lemma awn twisted, spirally coiled at base, like a corkscrew, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Callus or base of lemma evidently hairy, Callus hairs shorter than lemma, Callus hairs equal to lemma, Stamens 2, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis.