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GASTRIDIUM P. Beauv.
Plants hermaphroditic, caespitose, annual. Culms ascending (weak), nodes glabrous; internodes hollow, terete. Leaves cauline,
not distinctly distichous; sheaths terete margins open; auricles absent; ligules membranous; blades flat, linear, lax.
Panicles contracted, primary branches ascending or appressed. Spikelets solitary, laterally compressed,
disarticulation above glumes, awned, pedicellate; florets 1, reduced floret absent, callus pubescent, rachilla
extended above upper floret as a bristle; glumes 2, 1-veined (margins hyaline), unequal, longer than first floret
(long, and narrow); glabrous, awnless; lemmas. 5-veined (these inconspicuous) membranous to chartaceous, pubescent, apex
bidentate, awned; awn dorsal, straight or geniculate; paleas 2-veined, awnless, pubescent. Stamens 3; anthers
yellowish. Caryopses partially adnate to lemma and palea, dorsiventrally compressed. Base chromosome number x=7.
A small genus of 2-3 species from western Europe, the Canaries, and the Mediterranean. The species are
adapted to open habitats in grassland or agricultural lands.
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