Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Glabrous annuals.

Stems: Culms 30–60 cm tall, erect or sometimes decumbent at base.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades 10–30 cm long, 3–8 mm wide. Apex acute. Base continuous with sheath. Surfaces glabrous, scaberulous along the edges. Margins entire. Sheaths 4–8 cm long, usually scarious on margins; ligule 3–5 mm long, membranous. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in panicles drooping, 5–8 cm long, with few spikelets; spikelets 10–20 mm long, 7–12 mm wide, 9–15–flowered, ovate, on flexuous pedicels; glumes prominently 7–nerved, broad, chartaceous, obtuse, scarious, margins usually brown, first glume 5–5.5 mm long, second glume 6–6.5 mm long; lemmas 8–9 mm long, 7–9–nerved, chartaceous, base cordate, acute, margins usually scarious and brown or purple, upper part pilose; palea cuneate or obtuse, 3–3.5 mm long, keels ciliate. Ovary superior.

Fruit: Caryopsis dark brown; 2.5–2.7 mm long; 1.5–1.7 mm wide; keeled; beaked.

Ploidy: 2n = 14

Habitat: Cultivated and sparingly naturalized along roadsides; in pastures; and other disturbed areas.

Elevation Range: 610–1,070 m.