Tufted annuals or biennials. Leaf-blades flat; ligules membranous, short, truncate. Inflorescence a distichous spike. Spikelets 3–11-flowered, set into channels along the rachis prior to anthesis; glumes 2, unequal, the lower 3–5-nerved, the upper 5–11-nerved, shorter than or about equal to the spikelet; lemma obscurely 7–9-nerved, firm, often dorsally awned; palea 2-nerved, shorter than lemma.
4 species from the Mediterranean region and Azores; 1 naturalised in Australia.
Source:
Walsh, N.G. (1994). Poaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 356–627. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
