| The first glume is chartaceous, equal in length to the second, oblong or lanceolate. |
| Notice the remarkably long squamul or hypogynous scales, which here nearly equal the glume in length. |
| The first glume is rigidly coriaceous, gradually narrowed from a villous base to an erect scabrid awn, 1-nerved. |
| Germ tubes arise from secondary sporidia and grow towards stomatal openings of the glume, lemma or palea where they enter. |
| The fourth glume is narrow, ciliate, nerveless or rarely 1-nerved, erose or bifid at the top. |
| The flowering glume is awned, strongly 5-nerved, nerves scabrid and ciliate, the lateral nerves being marginal. |
