An "inflorescence of racemes" is variously described, but amounts to the primary branches off the culm being racemes that carry the spikelets. Recall (see Fig. 5B, below, right) that in a raceme, each spikelet is attached to its "branch"—called the rachis—by a short stalk or pedicel. However, in some racemes the pedicels can be very short; indeed, in some genera (e.g., Digitaria), spikelets are paired or grouped with one spikelet attaching directly to the rachis, the other(s) on pedicels.

An inflorescence of spikes will differ from an inflorescence of racemes only in having spikelets without pedicels (see Fig. 4B, middle image). To avoid having to make a distinction (requiring very close inspection of the spikelets) between branches that are spikes and branches that are racemes, this characteristic is not used in the early couplets of our key. All are considered racemose ("simple racemes"). In a few species (an example being California grass), some of the lower racemes may be secondarily branched.

In Hawai‘i, our most common racemose inflorescence grasses are:

Hilo grass [37]—widespread in wetter areas in the wild and in lawns; TV grass;
Narrow-leaved carpet grass [47]—very common small grass, along trails and in lawns;
Pitted beardgrass [104]— A very widespread and common small grass;
California grass [42]—large grass found on moist soils and around wetlands.
Crabgrasses [Digitaria]—weeds in lawns, pastures, and gardens.
Grasses in the genus Paspalum—large weeds in lawns, in pastures, and in wet areas.