Perennial. Culms up to over 2 1/2 ft. high, rather robust, straight, terete, simple, smooth, or slightly rough below the raceme, few-noded. Leaf-sheaths glabrous or sparingly hairy upwards, the lower strongly striate, with their bases persistent; ligules membranous, truncate, about 1 lin. long; blades linear, tapering to a short setaceous point, about 1/2 ft. long and 2–3 lin. wide, flat, hirsute on both sides, rough along the margin, midrib slender. Raceme solitary, 6–8 in. long, dull purplish-brown, erect, glabrous except at the calli; joints linear, compressed, slightly concave on the inner face, about 4 lin. long, more or less rough, ciliate along the inner angle, disarticulating very obliquely, scar with a membranous toothed ciliate appendage, exceeding the joint by up to 1 lin.; pedicels similar to the joints but flatter and with a smaller membranous appendage, contiguous with them. Sessile spikelet with an obconical bearded callus, up to 1 1/2 lin. long, separated from it by a deep transverse groove, oblong-lanceolate, 4 lin. long. Glumes equal, lower acute, cartilaginous, slightly convex, glabrous, almost smooth with the exception of the keels which are rigidly ciliolate upwards, keel-nerves 2, intracarinal nerves about 4, slightly prominent; upper glume of about the same length, thinly chartaceous, boat-shaped, obliquely linear-lanceolate in profile, acute, 3-nerved, the keels ciliolate above. Lower floret: valve slightly shorter than the glume, subhyaline, lanceolate, subacute, 2-nerved, obscurely ciliate near the tip, otherwise glabrous, with a similar valvule. Upper floret: valve hyaline, oblong-lanceolate, acute, finely 3-nerved, glabrous, with a shorter faintly 2-nerved valvule. Lodicules glabrous. Anthers 2 1/2 lin. long. Stigmas 1 1/2 lin. long. Pedicelled spikelets consisting of two reduced glumes and a small hyaline valve, the outer glume passing into a rough, more or less squarrose awn, up to 8–10 lin. long.
