Tall tufted or rhizomatous perennials with erect culms. Leaf-blades linear, flat, sometimes falsely petiolate or the whole blade terete; ligule scarious, ciliate. Inflorescence large, plumose, the central axis elongated and bearing crowded racemes on the primary branches, or very short with the racemes almost digitate; raceme rhachis not fracturing at maturity, bearing paired similar spikelets each supported on a pedicel. Spikelets narrowly oblong to lanceolate, surrounded by an involucre of hairs from the callus; callus very short, truncate; glumes equal, as long as the spikelet, thinly coriaceous, the lower ± flattened on the back; lower floret reduced to a narrowly oblong, hyaline lemma; upper floret bisexual; lemma lanceolate, hyaline, entire or finely bidentate, with or without a straight or geniculate awn; palea small; stamens 2-3. Caryopsis oblong to lanceolate.

A genus of about 20 species in the tropics of the Old World; 1 species occurs in Pakistan.

Lower Taxon

• Miscanthus nepalensis (Trin.) Hack.

Related Synonym(s):

• Erianthus nepalensis (Trin.) Steud. = Miscanthus nepalensis (Trin.) Hack.
• Eulalia nepalensis Trin. = Miscanthus nepalensis (Trin.) Hack.
• Pollinia nepalensis (Trin.) Benth. ex Duthie = Miscanthus nepalensis (Trin.) Hack.