Perennial, up to over 5 ft. high, densely cæspitose (Gossweiler) with extravaginal innovations. Culms erect, stout (up to 2 1/2 lin. in diam.), terete, solid, glabrous and smooth, simple and 3–5-noded below the panicle. Leaf-sheaths very firm, terete, hairy particularly upwards, the lowest more or less woolly at the base or perfectly glabrous, the basal often up to 9 in. long; ligules scarious, truncate, about 1 lin. long, mostly with hairs from behind; blades narrowly linear from an equally wide or more or less attenuated base, long-tapering to a fine point, rigid, over 1 1/2 ft. long, up to over 3 lin. wide, erect, flat or frequently with revolute scabrid margins, rough on the upper side or almost smooth, more or less hirsute and bearded at the mouth or glabrous above the latter or altogether; midrib moderately to very stout in the lower leaves, slender in the upper, whitish on the upper side; primary lateral nerves about 4 on each side, prominent above. Spatheate panicle large, in tall specimens compound to the third degree, elongated, rather lax, to over 3 ft. long; primary internodes 6–9, the lowest 3 very long (the lowest 6–11 in.), the upper rapidly decreasing; tiers few- to 6-rayed, mixed or the lowest branches undivided at the base and up to 4-noded; simple rays slender, filiform, 2–2 1/2 in. long; subtending leaves with well developed upwards decreasing blades, the lowest resembling the preceding leaves. Spatheoles narrowly subulate, lanceolate, 2–2 1/4 in. long, very long- and finely acuminate, scarious, purple or reddish-brown, glabrous, ultimately narrowly inrolled; peduncles finely filiform, recurved upwards, laterally exserted from the spatheoles, always shorter than these, pubescent upwards with long spreading tubercle-based hairs from the curvature. Racemes loose, more or less spreading, nodding, at length usually epinastically reflexed, 1–1 1/4 in. long, 8–12-awned per pair, loosely silky, fulvous or greyish-fulvous; bases slender, filiform, the lower subsessile, the other up to 2 lin. long, pubescent in the fork; joints finely filiform, very obliquely truncate or subauricled, up to over 2 lin. long, shortly ciliate, cilia white to dark fulvous, 1/2–1 lin. long; pedicels very similar, slightly longer, with a small subulate auricle. Homogamous pair of spikelets 1 (normally) at the base of the lower raceme only. Fertile spikelets linear-lanceolate, 3 lin. long, pale or olive green (apart from the hairs); callus slender, acute, up to 3/4 lin. long, very shortly bearded. Glumes equal, lower subchartaceous, minutely truncate, dorsally flat, fulvous- or greyish-hairy all over, margins very narrowly involute, slightly inflexed near the tips, keels very short, scaberulous, nerves about 11; upper glume membranous, obscurely emarginate, slightly hairy upwards on the back and ciliate on the margin. Lower floret reduced to an oblong truncate hyaline delicately 2-nerved reversedly ciliate valve. Upper floret hermaphrodite: valve stipitiform, very obscurely 2-toothed; awn 1 1/2–2 in. long, column brown, fulvously pubescent. Anthers 1 lin. long. Grain oblong, 1 1/2 lin. long, dorsally much compressed; embryo less than half the length of the grain. Pedicelled spikelets ♂ or neuter, narrowly linear-lanceolate, over 3 lin. long, resembling the sessile in colour and tomentum; glumes subequal, lower firmly subherbaceous, acute, 11-nerved, upper sometimes mucronulate, 3-nerved; valves slightly shorter than the glumes, hyaline, reversedly ciliate, lower oblong, 3-nerved, upper linear-spathulate from a very narrow base, or both more reduced.
