Perennial, up to 2 1/4 ft. high. Culms geniculately ascending from a prostrate base, very slender, simple, or branched from the lower nodes, 7- (or more-) noded, slightly scaberulous near the panicle, otherwise glabrous and smooth; upper internodes exserted. Leaves glabrous; sheaths finely striate, asperulous or smooth; ligule oblong, truncate, 2 lin. long, scarious; blade linear, tapering to a fine point, up to 4 in. or more long, 1/2–1 1/2 lin. wide, flat, finely scaberulous or smooth. Panicle loose, ovate-oblong, up to 4 in. long and 1 1/4 in. wide, flexuous; rhachis filiform, scaberulous upwards; branches 2–3-nate, finely filiform, flexuous, bare at the base for 1/4– 3/4 in., closely spiculate above, scaberulous, the lower up to 1 1/2 in. long; lateral pedicels 1/3–1 lin. long, the terminal longer. Spikelets narrowly elliptic, at length gaping, 1 1/2 lin. long, purple; rhachilla very minutely produced. Glumes subequal, narrowly lanceolate and finely acute in profile, membranous, 1-nerved and with 2 short side nerves, scabridly ciliolate on the keel and sparingly scabrid on the sides. Valve broadly elliptic-oblong when flattened, truncate, denticulate, nearly 1 lin. long, thinly membranous, 5-nerved, with the lateral nerves shortly excurrent, finely pubescent except in the upper third; awn inserted just above the middle of the valve, straight, 1 3/4–2 lin. long, with the column 1/2 lin. long; callus very shortly bearded. Valvule narrowly oblong, nearly as long as the valve, 2-nerved, with the nerves minutely excurrent. Anthers 1/3 lin. long.
