Plants perennial; rhizomatous. Culms 60-120 cm, stiffly erect, clustered. Sheaths open; ligules 0.1-0.3 mm, membranous, ciliate; blades flat, stiff, upper blades much reduced. Inflorescences terminal, simple panicles with elongate rachises; branches ascending to erect, not spikelike, lower branches usually with 8 or more spikelets; disarticulation beneath the glumes. Spikelets 3-4 mm, neither subtended by bristles nor sunken into the rachis, elliptic, obovoid, hirsute, unawned, with 2 florets. Lower glumes absent; upper glumes as long as the spikelets, obovate, densely hirsute, 5-veined; lower florets sterile or staminate; lower lemmas densely hirsute, similar to the upper glumes; lower paleas present or absent; upper lemmas and upper paleas cartilaginous, glabrous, dark brown, separating slightly at maturity, exposing the caryopses, lemmas 3-veined, margins flat, hyaline, 0.5-1 mm wide, paleas 2-veined. x = 10. Name from the Greek anthos, flower, and enathos, contrary, the spikelet having given Palisot de Beauvois some problems in interpretation.

Anthenantia is a genus of two species, both of which are endemic to the southeastern United States. It is very similar to Leptocoryphium Nees, a monotypic genus that extends from Mexico to Argentina.

Anthenantia is the etymologically correct version of the three alternative spellings used by Palisot de Beauvois (Clayton and Renvoize 1986).

Kral (2004) proposed Anthenantia texana as a third, new species for this genus in the United States. However, we are not, at this stage, prepared to emend this treatment.