Beckmannia Host

Annual or perennial. Leaf blades linear, flat; ligule membranous. Inflorescence composed of many unilateral racemes along a central axis; racemes dense, the lower often branched; spikelets subsessile, closely imbricate, biseriate. Spikelets orbicular, disarticulating below glumes, bisexual floret 1, with or without a second staminate floret above it; rachilla extension absent; glumes equal, gibbously inflated, enclosing all but apex of floret, not or weakly keeled, herbaceous with thinner white margins, 3-veined, apex obtuse or acute; floret callus short, glabrous; lemma lanceolate, cartilaginous, rounded on back, 5-veined, apex acute or tapering to a cusplike awn-point; palea somewhat shorter than lemma. Caryopsis terete.