Tufted or rhizomatous annuals or perennials. Inflorescence a contracted, often spike-like panicle. Spikelets 1-flowered; glumes 2, persistent, 3-nerved, shortly awned, exceeding lemmas; lemma 5–7-nerved, entire, glabrous or hairy, awnless, membranous; palea membranous, 1–2-nerved.
15 species from temperate Eurasia and America; 1 naturalised in Australia.
Walsh, N.G. (1994). Poaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 356–627. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
