Annuals or perennials. Ligule membranous. Inflorescence consisting of 1-sided racemes, these digitate or borne upon a central axis, rarely solitary; rhachis flat, sometimes broadly winged. Spikelets orbicular to ovate, usually plano-convex, dorsally
flattened, single or paired, in 2-4 rows; lower glume usually 0, rarely present as a small scale; upper glume as long as spikelet; lower floret barren with the lower lemma resembling the upper glume, palea 0; upper lemma
coriaceous to crustaceous, usually obtuse. Worldwide: c.330 species in tropical and warm areas, especially in America Zimbabwe: 2 cultivated taxa. |
No image of a cultivated species but there is an image of a native or naturalised species |