Ammophila Host
Type species: A. arundinacea Host nom. illeg.
Tough, rather coarse perennials with long-creeping rhizomes. Leaves tightly involute, pungent, glaucous. Inflorescence a dense, cylindric, spike-like panicle. Spikelets 1-flowered, strongly compressed laterally; disarticulation above glumes. Glumes ≥ lemma, firm with wide hyaline margin, keeled, persistent; lower 1-nerved, upper 3-nerved. Lemma 3-5-nerved, coriaceous, apex shortly bifid and shortly mucronate-awned. Palea ≈ lemma, subcoriaceous, keels close together. Lodicules 2, nerveless. Rachilla prolonged, hairy. Caryopsis enclosed by hardened anthoecium, longitudinally grooved; embryo small; hilum ± linear, c. ⅔ length of caryopsis; endosperm solid.
2 spp., of Europe, North Africa and North America. Naturalised sp. 1.
