Paspalum virgatum L.

Coarse leafy perennial; culms in large dense clumps, 1-2 m. high, erect, simple; sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous or sparsely hirsute on the collar and along the margins, the upper keeled, the lower ones spongy, reticulate, purplish; ligule 1.5-2 mm. long; blades 30-75 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, firm, flat, the margins serrulate; inflorescence 12-40 cm. long, composed of few to many thick ascending to drooping racemes, the lower ones mostly 10-15 cm. long, rarely 20 cm. long; rachis 1-1.5 mm. wide with a tuft of long hairs at the base, the margins very scabrous; spikelets 2.2-3 mm. long, paired, crowded, obovate, abruptly pointed, with silky hairs on the margins especially toward the summit, otherwise glabrous to pubescent; fruit 2-2.2 mm. long, chestnut-brown, striate.