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Annual, tufted. Culms erect or geniculately ascending, up to 80 cm tall. Leaf sheaths smooth, glabrous, upper sheaths slightly inflated; leaf blades 3–16 cm, 2–9 mm wide, glabrous, abaxial surface smooth or scabrid, adaxial surface scabrid; ligule 2–5 mm. Panicle narrowly cylindrical, up to 10 cm, tapering toward apex, yellow-green, pale green, or purplish. Spikelets narrowly oblong, 4.5–7.5 mm; glumes leathery, punctate-scabrid, keels narrowly winged, wings shortly pilose below, scabrid above, lateral veins very shortly pilose near base, margins connate in lower 1/3–1/2, apices acute; lemma slightly longer than glumes, margins connate in lower 1/3–1/2, awned from near base, apex acute; awn exserted 4–8 mm from spikelet, geniculate. Anthers pale yellow, 2.5–4 mm. 2n = 14.
Tufted annual 3–6 dm, often decumbent at base; infl 5–10 cm × 3–5 mm, tapering to the tip; glumes acute or subacuminate, their margins connate (especially on theinner side) for one-third to half their length, 4.5–6 mm, the keel winged, ciliate below the middle, scabrous above; awn attached below midlength of the lemma, geniculate and exserted 5–7 mm; anthers ca 3 mm; 2n=14. Native of Europe, occasionally found in fields and waste places at scattered stations nearly throughout our range.
