Annuals or perennials. Inflorescence a single raceme, bearing inclined or pectinate spikelets on a semi-terete (crescent-shaped in section) rhachis. Spikelets 1-flowered, (rarely with a second developed male floret), alternate in two rows, disarticulating above the glumes. Glumes subequal, 1-nerved, enclosing the florets; lower keeled, upper dorsally rounded. Lemma membranous, keeled, acute to 2-lobed at the apex, awnless but sometimes minutely mucronate. Worldwide: 6 species occurring throughout the tropics Caprivi: 2 cultivated taxa. |
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