Description:

• Annual or perennial, tufted, sometimes geniculate, rooting at nodes, rhizomatous or stoloniferous, sometimes mat-forming, often glandular, particularly on leaf sheath and inflorescence
• Leaf blade linear, expanded or rolled, rarely folded or setaceous; ligule a short fringe of hairs or a fringed membrane
• Inflorescence a panicle or raceme, these open to very dense, contracted or spike-like; primary branches, especially lowermost, solitary, opposite, clustered or whorled on central axis; spikelets pedicelled or subsessile
• Spikelet 1.5-26 mm long, usually laterally compressed, variously disarticulating: usually above glumes, either from apex downwards and rachilla falling with florets; or florets disarticulating from below upwards with rachilla remaining; or, rarely, entire spikelet falling with glumes (E. superba, E. pilgeriana); glumes equal or unequal, shorter than spikelet, usually membranous, 1- to rarely 3-nerved, keeled to not noticeably keeled, usually glabrous, awnless to rarely minutely mucronate or awned
• Florets 2-many, rarely 1, bisexual or uppermost floret reduced; lemmas ± imbricate, similar to firmer in texture to glumes, membranous to chartaceous, ovate, elliptic to oblong or almost orbicular, entire or rarely deeply lobed, acute or obtuse, 3-nerved, laterals faint or occasionally suppressed, keeled or rounded, glabrous or rarely with stiff hairs or cilia on keels, rarely nerves (laterals and central) excurrent into short mucros or awns; awn straight; palea equal to, or shorter than lemma, glabrous, 2-keeled, sometimes gland-dotted, scabrous-ciliate or winged on keels, membranous
• Lodicules 2 or 0, small, cuneate, ± fleshy
• Stamens 1-3
• Ovary glabrous; styles distinct, plumose
• Caryopsis globose to ellipsoid, sometimes pericarp free
• x = 10 (high polyploidy)

Nomenclature:

• Eragrostis Wolf
  • Wolf: 23 (1776)
  • Stapf: 594 (1900)
  • Stent: 296 (1924)
  • De Winter: 132 (1955)
  • Launert: 81 (1970)
  • Clayton: 188 (1974)
  • Phillips: 133 (1982)
  • Clayton & Renvoize: 215 (1986)
  • Gibbs Russell et al.: 139 (1990)
  • Watson & Dallwitz: 382 (1994)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global: Species ± 350, cosmopolitan, mainly subtropical
• Southern Africa: Species ± 90, widespread