Perennial. Culms erect, moderately stout, up to 4 ft. long, sheathed at the base, simple, 4-noded, glabrous and smooth except for the densely pubescent nodes, prominently striate beneath the inflorescence. Leaf-sheaths firm, moderately tight, striate, the lower persistent, up to 5 in. long, glabrous and smooth, the intermediate and upper shorter than the internodes, keeled upwards, glabrous and smooth except for the margins which are ciliate upwards; ligule reduced to a densely ciliate rim, hairs up to 1 lin. long; blade linear, up to 1 1/2 ft. long, 3 1/2–4 lin. wide, flat, firm, spreading, dull green, glabrous except for the pubescent motile zone, very rough on both surfaces or smooth below, midrib very slender, prominent below, primary lateral nerves 3–4 on each side, very fine. Inflorescence a flexuous continuous moderately dense false spike, more or less lobed below and cylindrical upwards, 9 in. long, 7 lin. wide at the base and up to 4 1/2 lin. wide in the cylindrical portion (exclusive of the bristles); axis slightly angular, tomentose; upper branches very short, reduced to sessile clusters of up to 3 spikelets each supported by 3 or more bristles, lower branches 1/4– 3/4 in. long, bearing solitary or paired spikelets, each supported by one to several bristles, the lowest branch up to 1 1/2 in. long; bristles flexuous, slender, scaberulous, pale or purplish upwards, up to 7 lin. long; pedicels reduced to short stumps up to 1/2 lin. long with minutely discoid tips. Spikelets oblong, subacute and apiculate in back view, broadly semi-ovate-elliptic in profile, 1 1/2 lin. long by slightly more than 1/2 lin. wide (back view), pale or tinged with purple. Glumes very unequal, membranous, 7-nerved; lower slightly more than half the length of the spikelet, broadly ovate; upper nearly as long as the upper floret and almost covering it, deeply concave. Lower floret ♂: valve similar to the upper glume, but dorsally flattened, as long as the spikelet, 5–6-nerved; valvule elliptic, obtuse, as long as the valve, keels narrowly winged; anthers 3/4 lin. long. Upper floret hermaphrodite, slightly shorter than the lower, broadly semi-ovate in profile, ovate and acute in back view, pale: valve and valvule crustaceous, finely longitudinally striate and punctate.
