Annual. Culms stout, tall, often slightly waxy, pruinose below the nodes. Leaf-sheaths softly pubescent at the nodes; ligules very short, scarious, hairy from the back; blades linear to linear-lanceolate or (the upper) lanceolate from a broad clasping base, long-attenuated upwards, up to over 1 1/2 ft. long, and up to 1 1/2 in. wide, usually hairy to tomentose inside above the ligule and outside at the junction with the sheath, otherwise glabrous. Panicle oblong to ovoid-oblong, rarely subobovate or elliptic in outline, erect, contracted and dense (rarely lax) in flower, somewhat to much loosened when mature; branches slender, flexuous, whorled or semiverticillate, the longest undivided for up to 1/2–1 in. (rarely much more) from the base, more or less ciliate towards the base and often villous at the junction with the nodes, otherwise like their divisions glabrous or nearly so, finely scabrid upwards. Racemes tough, up to 4- (rarely 5-) noded, 1/3– 1/2 in. long; joints slender, 1–1 1/2 lin. long, distinctly and often densely ciliate, cilia white or purplish; pedicels similar but more slender, of about the same length or more often shorter with very slightly thickened tips. Sessile spikelet ovate, acute with a small fine point, sometimes flattened on the back when young but soon convex, about 2 1/2 lin. by 1 1/4–1 1/2 lin. permanently pale or dull straw-colour to tawny, at length slightly glossy; callus-beard distinct, white. Glumes equal, coriaceous, lower about 10–13-nerved, finely and often obscurely 2-keeled towards the tips with the keels slightly scabrid, transversely constricted at the base, more or less white-strigillose (to almost tomentose) when young, at length more or less glabrescent on the back, upper 7–9-nerved, finely keeled upwards, tip usually straight. Valves distinctly ciliate, cilia up to 1/2 lin. long, lower broad-oblong, as long as the glumes, upper broad-ovate, 1 1/2–1 3/4 lin. long, middle nerve much thickened from the middle upwards, running out into a short straight mucro, lobes adnate to it almost all along. Anthers 1 1/4 lin. long. Grains elliptic or ovate-elliptic in outline, 1 3/4–2 1/4 lin. by 1 1/4–1 1/2 lin., dull white (in the African specimens). Pedicelled spikelet usually neuter, linear or linear-lanceolate, up to 2 lin. long, more often much reduced and quite small, persistent; lower glume if well developed up to 9-nerved, upper 5-nerved.
