perennial or annual (flowering the first year?), 1–3 ft. high; culms erect or geniculately-ascending or prostrate below, rooting and emitting fascicles of barren shoots from the nodes, 3–5-noded, more or less compressed below, glabrous, smooth, internodes exserted; sheaths glabrous, rarely sparingly hairy, smooth, the lower much compressed, keeled; ligules membranous, very short, very minutely ciliolate; blades linear, gradually tapering to an acute point, 1–4 in. by 1–1 3/4 lin., flat or folded, sometimes flaccid, glaucous, glabrous, rarely sparingly hairy, smooth below, seaberulous above, margins rough; spikes 6–15 or more, suberect, sessile, whitish-green or purplish, 1–2 1/2 in. long, straight; rhachis pubescent or villous at the base, scabrid; spikelets 2- (rarely sub-3-) flowered, 2-awned, almost 2 lin. long; rhachilla-joint between the valves rather long, terminal joint very minute; glumes narrow, lanceolate, hyaline, mucronate, keels scabrid, the lower 1–1 1/4 lin. long, the upper almost 2 lin.; lower valve obliquely oblong, acute or obscurely 2-toothed, 1 1/4 lin. long, whitish or almost black when mature, ciliate along the marginal nerves and bearded below the tip, finely grooved on the faces, keel glabrous or minutely ciliate below the middle; awn 5–8 lin. long, straight; pale glabrous; anthers 1/5– 1/4 lin. long; grain linear-oblong, obtusely triquetrous, 3/4 lin. long; upper valve (or valves) quite empty, obliquely cuneate in profile, 1 lin. or less long, awn from below the tip, 3–6 lin. long. null
