Triplachne nitens (Guss.) Link
An annual, with erect, ascending or decumbent stems, 4 to 25 cm long. Leaf blade 1 to 7 cm long, 1 to 4 mm wide. Ligule 1 to 3 mm long, membranous and toothed. Inflorescence a dense, oblong or ovate, 1 to 5 cm long, 0.5 to 1 cm wide. Spikelets solitary, lanceolate, laterally compressed, 4 mm long, on short stalks 0.8 to 3.5 mm long. Glumes lanceolate, unequal; the lower one about 4 mm long, the upper one slightly smaller. Lemma about 2 mm long, with toothed apex; 5-veined, the two lateral veins prolonged into awns about 1mm long. Principal central lemma awn dorsal, geniculate, 3.5 to 4 mm long, generally included in the glumes.
Local: Rare in Gibraltar. Found at the eastern end of the airport runway.
Global: Found in south-western and south-eastern Europe, north Africa and western Asia.
Flowers from April to May.
Grows on coastal sands.