Tricholaena Schrad.

Perennials, rarely annuals. Leaf-blades rigid, glaucous, frequently involute; ligule a ciliate rim. Inflorescence a panicle. Spikelets symmetrically oblong in profile, lightly compressed laterally, awnless; lower glume small or suppressed, slightly separated from the upper; upper glume as long as the spikelet, thinly membranous, indistinctly (3–)5-nerved, not gibbous, slightly emarginate to acute; lower floret ♂, its lemma resembling the upper glume, 5(–7)-nerved; upper lemma smaller than the lower, dorsally compressed, firmly cartilaginous, smooth and shining, white, readily deciduous, the margins flat and clasping 1/4–2/3 of the palea, acute. Caryopsis ovate to elliptic oblong.