Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Small annuals.

Stems: Culms erect, green or glaucous.

Roots: Fibrous root system.

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate, distichous. Alternate. Blades involute, filiform, nonauriculate. Margins entire. Veins parallel. Sheaths open; ligule membranous, narrow, and collar-like. Sheaths split to base, or tubular; ligule membranous or thin and coriaceous, usually minute; blades flat, folded, or rolled, sometimes auriculate at base. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescence a narrow panicle, sometimes contracted into a spike-like raceme. Spikelets 1–15–flowered, most of the florets cleistogamous, slightly laterally compressed, disarticulating above the glumes and between the florets; glumes narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, usually strongly unequal, first glume 1 nerved, sometimes greatly reduced, second glume usually 3–nerved, ± short-awned; lemmas narrowly lanceolate, rounded on the back, glabrous to scabrous, inconspicuously 5–nerved, apex attenuate or awned; palea slightly shorter than to longer than lemma, ciliate on the 2 keels, apex bifid. Lemmas membranous or chartaceous, 5-nerved, rounded on back, +/- awned; palea 2-keeled. Stamen 1. Ovary superior.

Fruit: Caryopsis linear–cylindrical; attenuate at both ends.

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