Distribution: Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across most of the United States to the Atlantic Coast.

Habitat: Waste ground and roadsides; a troublesome weed in wheat.

Flowers: May-July

Origin: Introduced from southern Europe

Growth Duration: Annual

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Wind

Annuals with hollow culms 3-5 dm. tall.

Sheaths open, usually sparsely long-hairy; ligules 0.5 mm. long; blades flat, 2-3 mm. broad, usually long-hairy.

Inflorescence a cylindric spike, 4-10 cm. long, the spikelets single at the nodes, 2-5 flowered, flatwise to the rachis and sunken into its curvature; glumes 2, 10-14 mm. long, prominently 6- to 8-veined, each with a terminal awn 5-30 mm. long, the tip of the glume with a short lobe; lemmas unawned, or the upper awned like the glumes.

Utricle