General:
Annual, prostrate, often widely matted grass from fibrous roots; stems semi-solid, 60-150 cm long.

Leaves:
Sheaths open, smooth, keeled, the collars constricted, sometimes hairy; blades 2-6 mm wide, flat or folded; ligules 1-1.5 mm long, the fringes 2 to 4 times as long as the basal membranes.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of short, crowded, spikelike racemes; the spikelets 2-flowered, 5-6 mm long, tightly enclosed within and deciduous with spiny burs formed by the basal union of numerous sterile branches, 1, 2, or more per bur, the burs 5 to 10, 4-6 mm wide when pressed, finely hairy, the spines numerous, flattened, more or less fused at the base; lower glumes considerably reduced, narrow, 1 (3)-nerved, the upper ones usually shorter than the lower lemmas, pointed, 3-nerved; lower flowers sterile but usually with lemmas and paleas, the upper flowers perfect with lemmas firm; lodicules absent.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Cenchrus carolinianus Walter