Perennial, densely cæspitose, up to 3 ft. high, with intravaginal innovations. Culms slender, simple for about 4 internodes below the panicle; lower internodes (except sometimes the lowest which may be short, more or less compressed, and hairy) up to 9 or 10 in. long, terete or compressed downwards, glabrous and smooth; sheaths rather firm, narrow and produced into minute auricles at the mouth, the lower at length slipping off the culm and convolute, the upper tight, terete or slightly keeled upwards; ligules truncate, very short, less than 1/2 lin. long, laterally adnate to the sheath-auricles; blades very narrowly linear from an equally wide or gradually attenuated base, tapering to a setaceous point, up to 2 ft. by 1 lin., firm, more or less rigid, glaucous or pale green, with the margins often revolute, glabrous, smooth except along the scabrid margins. Spatheate panicle very narrow, interrupted and scanty, over 1 ft. long; internodes about 3, gradually decreasing upwards; primary branches forming 3–1 upwards very scanty tiers, some of the lowest rays compound, 1–2-noded, all the others simple, up to 2 in. long, subtending leaves like the preceding but upwards with more or less widened sheaths and reduced blades. Spatheoles narrowly linear-lanceolate, long-acuminate, up to 1 3/4 in. long, scarious, reddish or purplish upwards, glabrous; peduncles filiform, apparently never much above 1/2 in. long, beset almost all along with white somewhat stiff minutely tubercle-based hairs up to 3 lin. long. Racemes subcontiguous, laterally exserted from the spatheoles, about 8 lin. long, greenish, 2-, rarely 3-, awned per pair; bases unequal, pubescent in the fork, with a dense beard of yellowish hairs about 3 lin. long, the lower very short, the upper about 1 1/2 lin. long, both with a linear-oblong unequally dentate scarious whitish appendage; fertile joints (if present) like the pedicels, slender, filiform, up to 2 lin. long, shortish white-ciliate. Homogamous pair of spikelets 1 at the base of the lower raceme only. Fertile spikelets linear-lanceolate, acuminate, somewhat flattened on the back with a longitudinal groove and broadly rounded sides, 4 lin. long including the callus, greenish, glabrous; callus slender, acute, white-bearded, hairs 1/2– 3/4 lin. long. Glumes equal, chartaceous; lower 2-denticulate, with very narrow tips, 9-nerved, middle nerve raised in the groove, the other nerves obscure except in transmitted light, margins involute below the acumen, then inflexed, keels fine, scabrid; upper glume truncate, mucronate, 3-nerved, reversedly ciliolate. Lower floret reduced to a linear-oblong faintly 2-nerved reversedly ciliate hyaline valve. Upper floret hermaphrodite: valves stipitiform, 2-dentate (teeth 1/2 lin. long), ciliolate; awn 1 1/2 in. long, column fulvous, shortly hirtellous. Anthers over 1 lin. long. Pedicelled spikelets ♂, linear-lanceolate, about 4 1/2 lin. long; lower glume thinly subherbaceous, shortly aristulate, 9-nerved, keels spinulously ciliolate upwards; upper glume very acute or mucronulate, 3-nerved, reversedly ciliate; valves hyaline, reversedly ciliate, the lower narrowly oblong, faintly 3-nerved, 3 1/2 lin. long, the upper oblanceolate, emarginate, 1-nerved, slightly shorter; anthers up to 1 1/2 lin. long.
