POACEAE  

Perennial, densely tufted, rhizomatous. Leaf blade rolling early, glabrous except at sheath-mouth; ligule a dense fringe of hairs. Inflorescence of few to many dense, secund spikes mostly scattered on a central axis, usually appressed to axis. Spikelet laterally compressed, falling with glumes, not disarticulating between florets; glumes +/- equal, shorter than spikelet, glabrous, keels winged, 1-nerved, awnless. Florets 5 or 6, lowest 2 florets reduced to lemmas; uppermost floret reduced; the rest bisexual; sterile lemma similar to glumes; bisexuallemma 5-nerved, entire, keeled, hairy on keel, slightly winged, awnless; palea equalling or subequalling lemma, 2-keeled, keels winged. Lodicules 2, small, cuneate, glabrous. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous; styles distinct, plumose above. x = 10.

Perennial, dense, sclerophyllous tufts, with hard, fibrous basal sheaths, forming thick, dense, fire-resistant mats. Leaf blade rolled, setaceous; ligule a fringe of hairs. Inflorescence a scanty, contracted panicle; spikelets appressed to branches; spikelets pedicelled. Spikelet laterally compressed, disarticulating above glumes; glumes unequal, shorter than spikelet, lanceolate, apex 3-lobed or entire, with short awn-point; lower glume 1-nerved; upper glume 1-3-nerved. Florets 2-5, bisexual; uppermost floret sterile or reduced to a lemma; lemma lanceolate, similar in texture to glumes, 3-5(7)-nerved, hairy on margins near base, lateral nerves glabrous or minutely hairy, incised, 3-lobed, lobes with awns or mucros, central awn straight, shorter than body of lemma; callus short and hairy; palea narrowly lanceolate, subequalling lemma. Lodicules 2, small, truncate, glabrous. Stamens 3. Ovary elliptic-oblong, glabrous; style bases knob-like. Caryopsis fusiform.

Perennial (sometimes short-lived) or annual, densely tufted, sometimes shrubs or dwarf shrubs, erect to geniculate, often with a well developed knotty rhizomatous base. Leaf blade usually long and narrow; ligule a dense fringe of hairs. Inflorescence a narrow or open panicle, sometimes spike-like, often interrupted; spikelets solitary or in fascicles, pedicelled. Spikelet disarticulating above glumes; glumes +/- equal or unequal, narrow, as long as to longer than spikelet, 3-11-nerved, glabrous or hairy, obtuse to acuminate, awnless; lower glume usually 3-nerved. Floret 1, bisexual; lemma narrow, cylindrical, firmer than glumes, ventrally grooved or margins involute, indurated at maturity, 3-awned, appearing as 1 awn with 3 branches due to fusion, rarely solitary as laterals reduced; awns with or without a column, all, or only central awn plumose or with a pencil of hairs at apex of column, articulation present at or above middle of lemma or between base of column and body of lemma, or 0; callus well developed, pungent or minutely bifid, usually oblique, bearded or glabrous; palea usually much less than half as long as lemma, indurated, 2-nerved, glabrous. Lodicules usually 2, or 0, obtuse. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous; styles free, plumose above. x= 11 (polyploidy).

Perennial, tufted, rhizomatous. Leaf blade setaceous, often overtopping inflorescence; ligule a short, fringed membrane or a fringe of hairs. Inflorescence a spike-like panicle, hairy; spikelets solitary, pedicelled. Spikelet laterally compressed, disarticulating above glumes and between florets; glumes unequal or +/- equal, shorter than spikelet or upper glume longer than spikelet, 1-nerved, acute to acuminate, densely hairy with tubercle-based hairs. Florets 2-6; lower florets bisexual; uppermost floret reduced; lemma similar to glumes, densely hairy with long hairs all over, 3-nerved, acute to acuminate, mucronate; callus minute, hairy; palea shorter than lemma, 2-keeled, membranous. Lodicules 2, minute, glabrous. Ovary glabrous; styles distinct, plumose above. x= 10.

Annual or perennial, tufted, stoloniferous, usually creeping, rooting at nodes; culms and overlapping leaf sheaths usually compressed, abruptly contracted at base, often grouped in a fan-shaped arrangement; ligule a narrow, fringed membrane. Inflorescence mostly terminal, spike-like, secund, of several to many short racemes embedded in cavities in a thickened central axis, each raceme bearing up to 8 spikelets on a rachis that is usually produced beyond upper spikelet to a subulate tip; spikelets sessile to shortly pedicelled, falling entire at maturity or together with adjacent internode of central axis; lower glume abaxial. Spikelet dorsiventrally compressed, lanceolate or ovate, plump, awnless; glumes very unequal, dissimilar, membranous, awnless; lower glume generally shorter than spikelet, nerveless; upper glume similar to lower or +/- as long as spikelet, 5-9-nerved. Florets 2; lower floret male or sterile; lemma chartaceous to coriaceous, acute or acuminate, 3-9-nerved; palea well developed; upper floret bisexual; lemma firmer than glumes, not becoming indurated, similar to lower but smaller, faintly 3-5-nerved, glabrous, entire, margins inrolled and covering palea but leaving tip free, awnless; palea usually indurated, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous; styles free, plumose above. Caryopsis lanceolate to oblong, plano-convex. x= 9 (polyploidy).