glabrous, slender, annual; stems 1–7 in. long, setaceous; leaves few, 1/2 as long as the stem, setaceous, weak; head of 1–3 (rarely 4) digitate spikelets; bracts 1–2, setaceous, short, lower continuing the stem, rarely attaining 1/2–1 in.; spikelets compressed, exactly parallel-sided, with very regularly-placed glumes, commonly 1/4 by 1/12 in. with 10 nuts, but very variable in length, sometimes 5/8 in. long with 20 nuts, sometimes with only 3–4 nuts; rhachilla persistent, stout for so small a plant; glumes ovate, boat-shaped, obtuse, strongly 7–9-ribbed, falling off seriatim from the base of the spikelet, white, green, reddish or brown; stamens 2–1; anthers small, linear-oblong, muticous; nut 1/2– 2/3 as long as the glume, triangular, ovoid, with acutely pyramidal apex, black; style linear, shorter than the nut; branches 3, linear, long. null
