Annuals or perennials. Infl a solitary raceme arising terminally and in the axils, sometimes loosely aggregated in a false panicle; raceme with homogamous spikelets for the lower 1/4-2/3 of their length; internodes linear. Sessile spikelets terete; callus pungent; lower glume convex; lower floret reduced to a hyaline lemma; upper floret passing directly into an awn. Pedicellate spikelets male or barren, larger than the sessile, awnless. Worldwide: 6 species in tropical and warm Africa and S Europe |