Perennial, or sometimes annual. Culms tufted, slender. Leaves mostly basal; leaf blades narrow, often convolute; ligule short, ciliate from a membranous base. Inflorescence a single raceme; raceme unilateral, very slender, scarcely wider than culm, falcate when dry; spikelets sessile, biseriate, closely imbricate; rachis crescentic in section. Spikelets small, lightly dorsally compressed, narrowly subterete, floret 1 without prolonged rachilla or sterile florets, disarticulating above glumes; glumes subequal, as long as spikelet and enclosing floret, firmly membranous, 1-veined, margins infolding, apex acute, both or only upper deciduous; lower glume keeled; upper glume rounded; lemma shorter than glumes, ovate, keeled, thinly membranous, 3-veined, ciliate on veins, apex acute or minutely emarginate and mucronulate; palea subequal to lemma, keels ciliate. Caryopsis ellipsoid. x = 10.

Six species: throughout the tropics; one species in China.

(Authors: Sun Bixing (孙必兴 Sun Bi-sin); Sylvia M. Phillips)