Home
Annual. Culms tufted, erect or ascending, 15–35 cm tall, pubescent below inflorescence. Leaf sheaths pubescent; leaf blades 5–10 cm × 3–5 mm, both surfaces pubescent. Panicle densely contracted, narrowly elliptic in outline, stiffly erect, 4–7 × ca. 2 cm, often tinged with purple; branches 2–5 mm, much shorter than spikelets, branches and pedicels pubescent. Spikelets 15–25 mm, florets4–9, upper florets sterile, reduced; glumes minutely hairy, keel ciliate, lower glume 7–9 mm, upper glume 10–12 mm; lemmas 12–16 mm, scabrid to pubescent, 2-toothed, apical teeth 4–5 mm, awned from sinus; awn 10–20 mm, scabrid, spreading at maturity; palea shorter than lemma, keels sparsely villous. Stamens (2 or)3, anthers to 2 mm. Fl. May–Jul. 2n = 14, 28.
Annual 1–5(–8) dm, with fine retrorse pubescence; blades narrow, 1.5–4(–5) mm wide, sometimes involute; ligule 1–2.5(–3) mm; infl contracted, ovoid, short, to 10 cm, oftenpurplish, the short branches and pedicels stout, ascending; spikelets 18–25(–30) mm, 3–8(–10)-fld, scaberulous to finely hirsute; glumes subulate, the first (5–)6.5–10 mm, 1-veined, the second 9–13 mm, 3-veined; lemmas subulate, 12–17 mm, 0.5–1.2 mm wide in side-view, 3-or 5-veined, the slender apical teeth 4–5 mm; awns 12–20(–24) mm, straight or slightly arcuate-spreading; palea shorter than the lemma; anthers 0.4–1 mm; 2n=28. Native of the Mediterranean region, widely intr. as a weed in arid w. U.S., and casually adventive with us.
