Physical description ⁶

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascendin g, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 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 or blade keeled, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Ligule present, Ligule a fringe of hairs, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branches appressed or ascending, 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 laterally compr essed, Inflorescence or spikelets partially hidden in leaf sheaths, subtended by spatheole, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes shorter than adjacent lemma, Glumes 1 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma 1 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma awnless, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) John Tann, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3420/3371998463_630cb1731a.jpg
2. (c) Ingrid P. Lin, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10302116
3. USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://plants.usda.gov/gallery/large/span6_001_lvd.jpg
4. USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://plants.usda.gov/gallery/large/sppo2_001_lvd.jpg
5. (c) licensed media from USDA PLANTS images without owner, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=spin4_001_avd.tif
6. (c) Dr. David Bogler, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/6659335

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