Perennial, up to 4–5 ft. high, cæspitose with few intravaginal innovations. Culms erect or ascending, rarely up to 2 lin. thick, 5–7-noded and simple below the panicle. Leaf-sheaths terete, quite glabrous, very rarely hirsute with short tubercle-based hairs, the basal firmer and more or less persistent; ligules scarious, 1–2 lin. long, rounded; blades linear from a slightly narrower or equally broad and somewhat constricted base, long-tapering to a fine point, to over 1 ft. long and 2–4 lin. wide, firm but hardly rigid, green or reddish or subglaucous, glabrous, scabrid to spinulous along the margins, otherwise slightly rough or almost smooth; midrib somewhat slender and prominent below, whitish and often rather broad above; primary lateral nerves 3–4 on each side, slightly raised. Spatheate panicle narrow, more or less lax, 1/2–1 1/2 ft. long, of 6–8 up to 5-rayed mostly mixed tiers, the internodes gradually decreasing in length upwards; lower subtending leaves resembling the preceding ones, their blades usually shorter than the panicle; upper much reduced, often reddish with small blades; compound rays rarely more than 3-noded, ultimate simple rays filiform, 1/2–1 1/4 in. long. Spatheoles permanently boat-shaped, lanceolate, acutely acuminate, 2/3–1 1/2 in. long, 1 1/4–1 3/4 lin. wide, thinly scarious, glabrous (very rarely hirsute); peduncles filiform, 8–9 lin. long, their tips together with the very short raceme-bases densely bearded, hairs up to 2 lin. long, white or yellowish. Racemes sessile or subsessile, subcontiguous, at length epinastically reflexed and exserted laterally from the spatheole together with the strongly arching peduncles, 5–7 lin. long, about 5-awned per pair; joints filiform, obliquely truncate, up to almost 1 lin. long, shortly white-ciliate, uppermost cilia up to 1 lin. long; pedicels very similar. Homogamous pair of spikelets 1 at the base of the lower raceme only. Fertile spikelets oblong, 2–2 1/2 lin. long, pale, sometimes reddish upwards or brown on the back, very sparingly or densely hairy; callus hardly 1 lin. long, subacute, shortly bearded. Glumes equal, thinly chartaceous; lower minutely truncate, dorsally flattened, more or less hairy, 7–9-nerved, nerves very faint below the tips, margins narrowly involute and inflexed near the tips, with scabrid short keels; upper minutely and obliquely truncate, mucronulate, 3-nerved, more or less hairy on the back, erect, ciliate upwards. Lower floret reduced to a linear-oblong truncate obscurely 2-nerved or nerveless ciliolate hyaline valve. Upper floret hermaphrodite: valve stipitiform, minutely 2-toothed; awn fine, 10–16 lin. long, column brown, finely hispidulous. Anthers 1 1/4 lin. long. Pedicelled spikelets ♂ or neuter, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, up to 3 lin. long, reddish, glabrous or more or less hairy; lower glume acutely acuminate or minutely aristulate, about 11-nerved, keels rigidly ciliolate, upper very acute, 3-nerved, erect-ciliate; valves hyaline, erect-ciliate, up to 2 1/2 lin. long, narrowly 1-nerved, lower linear-oblong, upper notched, linear-cuneate, or both more or less reduced. Spikelets of homogamous pair very slightly longer than the pedicelled, neuter (always ?) long persistent on the peduncles.
