Perennials; culms compressed, glabrous or peduncle of the inflorescence hairy at the top. Leaves tubercle-based hairy, the sheaths keeled, the nodes glabrous or
hairy; ligule truncate, ciliate; blade linear, with rather broad base and acute tip, margins revolute when dry. Inflorescence of 1-several approximate, dense, spike-like racemes, the rachis many-jointed, articulate, dorsally compressed, imbricate, spikelets in alternate paris; one pair of pedicelled spikelets. Sessile spikelets: lower glume herbaceous, as long as spikelet, several-nerved, back llat with narrowly inflexed hyaline margins, and continuous wings along edges; upper glume equally
long or slightly shorter, narrower, thin, boat-shaped, keeled, apex narrowed and margins incurved; lower lemma shorter than lower glume, thinly membranous, nerveless; lower palea wanting; upper lemma consisting of an awn with a hyaline,
stipe-like base, the column nearly glabrous; upper palea wanting; lodicules 2, cuneate, apex rounded-truncate, glabrous; stamens 3 or reduced to staminodes; styles 2, free, the stigmas usually laterally exserted. Caryopsis oblong to ovate, with a flat ventral side and a convex dorsal side. Pedicelled spikelets with the lower glume like the bisexual spikelets, but membranous; upper glume not boat-shaped; lower lemma shorter; upper lemma oblong-lanceolate, nerveless; stamens 0-3, the
anthers linear.
About 15 species distributed in the paleotropical regions;
Two naturalized spieces are found in Taiwan.
