Perennial, innovations extra- and intra-vaginal. Culms up to over 3 ft. high, erect or slightly geniculate-ascending, somewhat robust, terete, more or less wiry below, 7–9-noded, sparingly branched, branches suberect. Leaf-sheaths terete, tight, strongly striate, bearded at the nodes, and sometimes ciliate towards the mouth, otherwise glabrous; ligules up to 1 lin. long, truncate or rounded, ciliate; blades linear, tapering to a long fine point, scarcely contracted at the base, up to over 6 in. by 1 1/2–2 1/2 lin., rather rigid, glaucous, flat, at length revolute, somewhat rough on the upper side from minute tubercle-based hairs, margins cartilaginous, scaberulous upwards, midrib slender, lateral nerves 3–4 on each side, fine. Inflorescence subdigitate, erect; common rhachis filiform, about 9 lin. long, shortly bearded at the branch axils; branches solitary, simple, naked up to 4 lin., quite glabrous. Racemes 3–5 (or 7 according to Hackel), rather stout, more or less flexuous, about 2 in. long, purplish-grey; joints and pedicels finely filiform, solid, 3/4–1 lin. long, ciliate on both or only on one side, upper cilia longer than the joint or pedicel. Sessile spikelets imbricate, broad-oblong, very obtuse, 2–2 1/2 lin. long; callus very small, shortly bearded. Lower glume thinly chartaceous with tips hyaline and whitish between the keel ends, obscurely concave on the back, minutely asperulous on the keels, long-ciliate from small tubercles placed along the margins and in a semilunar row across the glume just below the hyaline tip, hairy on the back, intracarinal nerves above 5, more marked upwards, upper glume minutely truncate, glabrous. Valve of lower floret linear to oblong, hyaline, glabrous or ciliolate; awn of upper floret up to 9 lin. long, column puberulous. Anthers 1 lin. long. Stigmas exserted terminally or subterminally. Pedicelled spikelet ♂, very similar to the sessile. Lower glume long-hairy all over, up to 13-nerved, upper 3- to sub-5-nerved, ciliolate upwards. Valve oblong, ciliate at the obtuse top.
