Perennial, densely cæspitose, 3–4 ft. high. Culms surrounded at the base by the firm persistent leaf-sheaths or their remains, terete, about 5-noded, glabrous apart from the densely and appressedly white-bearded upper ends of the internodes, the hairs covering the slightly constricted sheath-bases. Leaf-sheaths firm, terete, tight, more or less produced at the mouth into short acute auricles, the lower longer, the middle and upper much shorter than the internodes, glabrous; ligules very firm, up to 1 lin. long, rounded, laterally adnate to the sheath-auricles; blades narrowly linear, convolute, rarely somewhat flattened out, tapering to a long fine point, up to 1 ft. by 1 1/2 lin., very firm and tough, glabrous or shortly hairy just above the ligule, smooth except on the scaberulous margins and the slightly rough main-nerves of the upper side, midrib slender or stouter downwards, not prominent below, primary lateral nerves few, obscure below. Racemes solitary or 2-nate, 4–2 in. long, secund; rhachis subterete, glabrous except in the upper part along the very oblique shortly bearded disarticulation marks, internodes about 2 lin. long; longer pedicels slender, up to 1 1/2 lin. long, glabrous or nearly so, tips very oblique. Subsessile spikelets ♂, the lower broad-oblong and dorsally flattened, the upper narrower upwards and more convolute, 3 lin. long, glabrous, brownish. Glumes subequal; lower coriaceous, truncate, keels winged from the middle upwards, wings firm, reddish, up to 1/4 lin. wide, scaberulous, intracarinal nerves 7, obscure except in transmitted light, with some transverse veins; upper glume slightly longer, linear, subacute, thinner, 3-nerved, ciliolate near the tips. Lower floret reduced to an oblong broadly truncate sub-2-nerved upwards ciliate valve, 2 1/2 lin. long. Upper floret as long as the lower: valve lanceolate-oblong, narrowly truncate, obscurely mucronulate, 3-nerved, ciliolate near the tips. Anthers 2 1/2 lin. long. Fertile spikelets linear, up to over 6 lin. long, including the pungent densely silvery-bearded callus, which is about 1 1/2 lin. long. Glumes subequal: lower convolute, wingless, subcoriaceous, obtuse, glabrous or loosely hairy, 9-nerved, nerves very obscure except in transmitted light, upper slightly longer, linear, subobtuse, strongly 3-nerved, eciliolate. Lower floret reduced to an oblong truncate hyaline ciliate 2-nerved valve. Upper floret hermaphrodite: valve narrowly linear, hyaline and 3-nerved below, cartilaginous above passing into a slender flexuous silvery-grey awn, 3 1/2–4 in. long, obscurely kneed, tightly twisted below, all the awns intertwisted on one side of the raceme, plumose with soft hairs up to over 1 lin. long, bristle with very short upwards decreasing hairs or merely hispidulous upwards.
