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| 1 Spikelets 18-32 mm long; [tribe Poeae] |
| 1 Spikelets 0.7-10.8 mm long. |
| ..2 Florets rigid, shining; glumes and lemmas rounded in ×-section, not keeled; spikelets 2.5-5 mm long; [tribe Poeae] |
| ..2 Florets soft, papery; glumes and lemmas keeled in ×-section; spikelets 0.7-10.8 mm long. |
| ....3 Florets with a conspicuous tuft of hairs on the callus; [tribe Zoysieae; subtribe Sporobolinae] |
| ....3 Florets not conspicuously hairy on the callus. |
......4 Lemma 1-veined; ligule of hairs; grain becoming mucilaginous when wet; [tribe Zoysieae; subtribe Sporobolinae] |
| ......4 Lemma 1-5-veined; ligule a membrane (the summit sometimes ciliolate); grain not becoming mucilaginous when wet. |
| ........5 Lemmas faintly 5-veined; lower glume longer than the lemma; palea much shorter than the lemma (or absent); [tribe Poeae] |
| ........5 Lemmas strongly 3-veined; lower glume shorter than (rarely equaling) the lemma; palea about equaling the lemma; [tribe Cynodonteae; subtribe Muhlenbergiinae] |