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Annuals or perennials, tufted or sometimes with rhizomes or stolons. Leaf blades linear to filiform or setaceous, flat or rolled; ligule membranous. Inflorescence a panicle, open to contracted or spikelike. Spikelets with 1 floret, small, often gaping, without rachilla extension; rachilla disarticulating above glumes; glumes persistent, longer than floret, subequal or lower a little longer, membranous, 1-veined, apex subacute to acuminate; floret callus glabrous or shortly pilose; lemma oblong to elliptic, thinner than glumes, often hyaline, 5-veined, rounded on back, glabrous or hairy, lateral veins sometimes excurrent, awnless or awned from back, apex truncate or toothed; awn usually geniculate, sometimes weakly so or straight when short; palea shorter than lemma, sometimes very small. Stamens 3. Caryopsis oblong, sulcate on ventral side.
Annuals or perennials. Leaf-blades linear to subulate. Panicle usually much divided, rarely spike-like. Spikelets linear-lanceolate to oblong, small, often gaping and with the rhachilla prolonged beyond the floret; glumes persistent (rarely the spikelet falling entire), subequal, mostly lanceolate and acute to acuminate, membranous, often shining, 1(–3)-nerved; lemmas oblong to elliptic, shorter than the glumes, truncate or denticulate, thin, (3–)5-nerved with the nerves often excurrent into mucros, awnless or awned from the back; callus small, obtuse, glabrous or pubescent (rarely bearded); palea usually shorter than the lemma, sometimes obsolete
Spikelets 1-fld, articulated above the glumes; glumes about equal, narrow, acute or acuminate, 1-veined, somewhat keeled; lemma acute to obtuse, evidently shorter than to nearly equaling the glumes, rounded on the back, obscurely nerved, awnless or short-awned from the back, rarely the awn to 1 cm and borne just below the tip; callus often minutely bearded; palea delicate, ± reduced or obsolete, seldom as much as three-fourths as long as the lemma; rachilla in most spp. not prolonged behind the palea; annuals and perennials with expanded or contracted panicles of small spikelets. 100+, mainly temp. and subarctic.
Lemma 3-5-nerved, broadly oblong, ovate-oblong or elliptic when expanded, thinly membranous or hyaline, apex usually truncate sometimes slightly emarginate, awnless or dorsally awned or rarely with the apex awned between 2 short lobes (in this case the awn straight), glabrous or dorsally pilose, the lateral nerves sometimes excurrent into short mucros; callus short, obtuse, glabrous or bearded.
Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes, not pro-longed beyond the floret (in our species); glumes equal, longer than the floret, acute or acuminate; lemma usually obtuse, thinner than the glumes, awned from the back or awnless, glabrous or more or less hairy on the callus; palea obsolete (in our species).
Spikelets pedicelled, 1-flowered, hermaphrodite, relatively small, laterally compressed, awned or awnless, narrowly lanceolate to oblong, often gaping; rhachilla disarticulating above the glumes, sometimes produced beyond the floret into a slender awn-like bristle of varying length.
Caryopsis free, oblong or elliptic-oblong in outline, longitudinally grooved; embryo short, not longer than 1/4 the length of the caryopsis; hilum basal, punctiform or linear to narrowly oblong.
Glumes 2, persistent, subequal, 1-(rarely 3-) nerved, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, rarely oblong, apex acute or acuminate, awnless, usually membranous.
Palea as long as but usually shorter than the lemma, sometimes reduced to a small scale or completely absent, faintly 2-nerved, hyaline.
Inflorescence a many-flowered panicle, usually much divided, effuse or contracted, seldom spike-like.
Ovary glabrous; styles 2, rather short, with the stigmas laterally exserted.
Ligule a membrane, sometimes lacerate, scarious to hyaline.
Lodicules 2, usually lanceolate, hyaline.
Annual or perennial grasses.
Stamens 3.
