Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Perennials or annuals.

Stems: Culms tufted, slender, hollow.

Roots: Fibrous root system.

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate, distichous. Blades flat to involute, nonauriculate. Margins entire. Veins parallel. Sheaths open to base; Iigule membranous, erose. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescence a narrow to open, spike-like panicle. spikelets 2(–4)–flowered, florets perfect, rachilla villous, joints evident, usually prolonged above the uppermost floret, often with a vestigial lemma, disarticulating above the glumes and between the florets or sometimes below the glumes; glumes subequal to strongly unequal, keeled, apex acute, awnless, first glume 1–nerved, second glume 3–nerved; lemmas usually shorter than second glume, obscurely 5–nerved, keeled, shortbearded at base, apex bifid, ± awned, the awn straight or bent from just below base of the notch, attached above middle of lemma; palea shorter than lemma, the 2 nerves prolonged into bristles. Stamens 3. Ovary superior.

Fruit: Caryopsis glabrous or pubescent.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

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