Sp. PI. 67 (1753) ; Gram. Afr. Trop. 1: 168 ; Gen. Gram.: 101 (1986).- Type-species: Poa pratensis Linn.
Description:
* Perennials, sometimes annuals. Leaves flat or setaceous, rarely pungent, the basal sheaths sometimes thickened into a bulb.
* Inflorescence an open or contracted panicle.
* Spikelets 2-several-flowered. Glumes keeled; lower glume narrow; upper glume almost always 3-nerved, scabrid on the midnerve. Lemmas herbaceous or membranous, often with hyaline margins, concave and keeled throughout, awnless, the callus often with fine hairs; palea keels scaberulous to softly pilose. Stamens 3.
Extremely uniform genus of cool temperate regions throughout the world, extending on tropical mountain tops, with about 500 species; typical habitat meadowland.