Diarrhena americana Beauv. var. obovata Gl.
American Beakgrass

Habit: 		Perennials with slender rhizomes.
Culms: 		50-120 cm. tall, simple, erect, very rough, below the panicle, leafy below.
Blades: 	20-60 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, long-acuminate, flat, usually rough.
Sheaths: 	Longer than the internodes, smooth or pubescent towards the summit.
Ligule: 	Very short.
Inflorescence: 	Panicle 10-30 cm. long, long-exserted, narrow, drooping, branches few, appressed,
		the lower distinct, with relatively few spikelets.
Spikelets: 	3-5-flowered, 10-18 mm. long, short-pediceled, the upper 1 or 2 flowers sterile,
		at first narrow, but the florets expanded at maturity, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes and
		between the florets.
Glumes: 	Unequal, the first about 1-2.5 mm. long, the second about 3.5 mm. long.
Lemma: 	4-6(-10) mm. long, acuminate, convex below, 3-nerved, acuminate or mucronate-pointed,
		often exceeded by the beaked fruit.
Palea: 		Shorter than its lemma, obtuse, pale, widely spread from the lemma by the large, turgid fruit.
Fruit: 		Grain large, usually beaked, with a shining coriaceous pericarp.
Habitat: 	Shaded riverbanks and rich woods. August-September.
Kansas Range: 	East half.