Loosely tufted perennial from a short knotty rhizome; culms 1.3–2 m. high, robust. Leaf-blades 30–45 cm. long and 7–20 mm. wide. Panicle 30–40 cm. long, loose, the branches spreading or ascending. Spikelets 2–4-flowered with an additional barren floret, 9–13 mm. long; glumes lanceolate, acuminate, the lower 4–6 mm. long, the upper 6–8 mm. long; lower lemma 7–9 mm. long, 3–5-nerved, the intermediate nerves often indistinct, awned from just below the minutely bidentate hyaline tip; awn 7–10 mm. long; anthers 3.5–4 mm. long. Fig. 20.