A tufted perennial, 3/4–3 ft. high. Culms erect or geniculately ascending, slender, few- to many-noded, simple or branched, usually retrorsely scabrid, especially towards the panicle and often towards the nodes, otherwise smooth and glabrous; uppermost internodes at length long-exserted. Leaf-sheaths striate, glabrous, retrorsely scaberulous or smooth, longer than the internodes or finally shorter; ligule oblong, obtuse, up to 2 1/2 lin. long; blade linear, tapering to a fine hard tip, up to 10 in. long, 3/4–1 3/4 lin. wide, flat or convolute, stiff to rigid, green, glabrous, scaberulous or smooth. Panicle ovate to oblong, 1 1/2–8 in. long, 1/2–2 1/2 in. wide, loose and open, or more or less contracted, flexuous; rhachis slender, smooth below, scaberulous above, flexuous; branches in distant fascicles, unequal, filiform, flexuous, loosely divided above the base, scaberulous to minutely hispidulous, the lower up to 4 in. long; lateral pedicels 1/3–1 lin. long. Spikelets oblong, at length widely gaping, 1 3/4–2 1/2 lin. long, purplish; rhachilla produced, 1/4 lin. long, ciliate, often bearing a fine scaberulous bristle up to 1 1/2 lin. long. Glumes linear-lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate in profile, acute, firmly membranous, scaberulous on the keel; lower 1-sub3-nerved; upper subequal to the lower or slightly shorter, 3-nerved, with the lateral nerves short. Valve elliptic-oblong when flattened, emarginate-truncate, 1 1/4–1 1/2 lin. long, membranous, loosely and shortly pilose except towards the apex, 5-nerved, with the lateral nerves excurrent into fine mucros; callus shortly bearded; awn inserted near the base of the valve, geniculate, up to 3 1/2 lin. long, with the column 1–1 1/2 lin. long. Valvule narrowly lanceolate, as long as the valve, shortly 2-toothed, sparingly pilose at the middle, 2-nerved. Anthers 1/2 lin. long. Grain oblong, up to 3/4 lin. long.
