Spikelets 1-fld, laterally compressed, articulated at base in a small cupule atop the pedicel; glumes wanting; lemma awned or awnless, broad, chartaceous, oblong, semi-elliptic, or oval, keeled, 5-veined, the lateral nerves near the margin, the intermediate veins usually inconspicuous; palea similar to the lemma in texture and about as long, narrow, keeled, 3- veined, its margins clasping the inrolled margins of the lemma; stamens 1, 2, 3, or 6; stigmas 2; perennials (our spp. with long rhizomes) with membranous ligules, flat blades, and spikelets on short pedicels in small, spike-like racemes borne in a terminal panicle. 7, cosmop.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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