Perennial, 3/4–1 3/4 ft. high, from a creeping rhizome. Culms erect, or geniculate-ascending and rooting at the nodes, moderately slender, simple, or branched near the base, 1–4-noded towards the base; uppermost internode long-exserted, glabrous, eglandular, or with a few glands near the panicle. Leaves loosely to sparsely pilose with soft white hairs; sheaths overlapping, striate, the lowest minutely tuberculate, broad, loose and pallid; ligule a densely ciliate rim; blade linear, gradually narrowed to a blunt tip, up to 8 in. long and 1 1/2–2 lin. wide, flat, or rolled when dry, flaccid to stiff, flexuous upwards, glandular-tuberculate on the margins towards the base, or eglandular. Panicle ovate, lax, 2 1/2–5 1/2 in. long, 1 1/4–4 in. wide; rhachis very slender, smooth, glandular with minute circular or elliptic glands, or eglandular; branches paired, obliquely spreading, capillary, smooth, glandular like the rhachis, or eglandular, bare for up to 3/4 in. from the base, trichotomously divided above, with the spikelets crowded or scattered, the lower up to 2 in. long; pedicels 1/4–5 lin. long. Spikelets 2–2 1/2 lin. long, pale green and tinged with purple, with whitish tips. Glumes obliquely lanceolate in profile, acuminate, thinly membranous, 1-nerved, glabrous, minutely scaberulous on the keel. Valves narrowly oblong in profile, about 1 lin. long (entire part), loosely pubescent, obscurely 7-nerved; lobes about 1/6– 1/5 lin. long, obtuse, each bearing on the inner side a fine bristle 3/4– 1/4 lin. long; awn geniculate below the middle, 2 1/2–3 1/2 lin. long, with the column twisted and 1/2– 7/8 lin. long. Valvules narrowly oblong, 1–1 1/4 lin. long. Anthers 1/2 lin. long. Grain 3/4 lin. long.
