Perennial. Culms erect or geniculately ascending, 2–2 1/2 ft. or more long, moderately stout, terete, many-noded, glabrous or slightly hairy near the nodes. Leaves sparsely to densely and coarsely hirsute with tubercle-based hairs; sheath loose, overlapping, finely striate, hairs spreading or reflexed, nodes bearded; ligule reduced to a white ciliate rim with hairs about 1/2 lin. long; blade linear, narrowed at the base, long and finely acute, 3–6 in. long, 3–4 lin. wide, the uppermost usually shorter and narrower, firm, flat, rarely involute, margins shortly ciliate and scaberulous. Panicle linear-oblong, 5–8 in. long, 1/2– 3/4 in. wide, erect, dense, sheathed at the base or exserted, pale yellowish-green, purple or variegated green and purple, with purplish awns; branches 2–3-nate, erect; ramifications flexuous, capillary, purplish, minutely and obscurely scaberulous; pedicels 1/2–1 lin. long, with slightly thickened paler glabrous tips. Spikelets linear-oblong, about 1 lin. long, strongly grooved and nerved, pale yellowish-green, purple or tinged with purple upwards, long pilose in the upper part. Lower glume reduced to an annular rim or an ovate, obtuse or acute hyaline scale up to 1/8 lin. long, nerveless, hairy from the base, hairs up to 1/2 lin. long; upper oblong when flattened, as long as the spikelet, very shortly 2-lobed, lobes rounded, with or without a mucro, membranous, glabrous or hairy on the margins below, sparsely pilose from the middle upwards with long white partly tubercle-based hairs exceeding the spikelet by 1/2 lin., 7-nerved. Lower floret barren: valve narrowly oblong when flattened, as long as the upper glume and similar in hairiness and texture, 2-lobed with the lobes narrow, acute and one-fifth the length of the valve, with a straight or flexuous awn 3–6 lin. long from the sinus, 5-nerved; valvule 0. Upper floret hermaphrodite: valve ovate-oblong, 3/5– 4/5 lin. long, obscurely 1–3-nerved, hyaline, minutely 2-fid; valvule of similar shape, size and texture; anthers linear-oblong, 3/5 lin. long.
