Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Annuals or perennials, often aquatic.

Stems: Culms usually ascending from a prostrate base.

Roots: Roots fibrous.

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades linear, lanceolate, or ovate. Veins parallel. Sheaths glabrous, often ciliate on margins; ligule a fringe of hairs or absent. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence an open or contracted panicle; spikelets 2-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating below each floret; glumes deciduous soon after the florets, subequal, membranous, 2/3 as long to as long as the spikelet. Florets similar or dissimilar first floret staminate or perfect, second floret pistillate or perfect. Lemmas elliptic-oblong to orbicular, obscurely 5-7-nerved, obtuse, first lemma similar to second lemma or larger and thinner, second lemma chartaceous to thin-coriaceous; palea similar to lemma in size and texture, 2-nerved, enclosed by the narrow lemma margins. Stamen 3.

Fruit: Caryopsis ellipsoid to suborbicular; one side dorsally flattened.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

Elevation Range: