Mex. Pl. 2: 51 (1886); Kew Bull., Add. Ser. No 2 (1969); Gen Gram: 354 (1986).- Type-species: Hyparrhenia foliosus Kunth = H. bracteata (Willd.) Stapf.
Dybowskia Stapf, FTA 9: 382 )1919).
Description:
* Annual or perennial, usually cespitose with tall culms, rarely trailing. Leaves never aromatic.
* Inflorescence a pair of racemes, enclosed by a spatheole. These crowded into a large compound panicle. Racemes short, with up to 2 homogamous pairs of spikelets, these sometimes involucral. Raceme-basis terete or flattened, often deflexed at maturity.
* Sessile spikelet callus obtuse to pungent. Lower glume without median groove; upper glumes awnless. Upper lemma bi-dentate, bearing a stout hairy awn. Pedicelled spikelets usually a little longer, without a callus.
Note: As a genus easy to recognize but the delimitation into species presents great taxonomic difficulties, due to extensive introgression.
Genus with appr. 55 species, mainly Africa and almost confined to the savannas..