annual; culms slender, up to 2 ft. long, about 3-noded, glabrous; leaf-sheaths pubescent or glabrous except the nodes, the upper rather tumid; ligules membranous, oblong, pubescent, 1 lin. long; blades linear, acuminate, 1–3 in. by 1–2 lin., flat, flaccid, softly pubescent; panicle contracted, often almost spike-like, 1–2 1/2 in. long; rhachis scabrid; branches, branchlets and pedicels fine, hairy; spikelets ovate, 1 1/2–2 lin. long, pallid; glumes almost equally long, scabrid, keels pectinate-ciliate, margins ciliolate below the tips, the lower narrow and subulate-acuminate, the upper much broader and awned; awn terminal, straight, 2–3 lin. long; lower floret hermaphrodite, upper ♂ or barren; lower valve obliquely ovate, 3/4 lin. long, subacute, smooth, shining, glabrous or with a few hairs on the keel, very obscurely 5-nerved; callus with a few long hairs; upper valve small, very thin, awn subterminal, fine, often bent, much shorter than the awn of the upper glume; pale as long as the valve; anthers 1/4 lin. long. null
