Perennial. Culms densely tufted, very slender, wiry, 10–30 cm tall, fasciculately branched, many-noded. Leaf sheaths smooth, glabrous; leaf blades convolute, needle-like, stiff, 5–9 cm, 1–2 mm wide, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial surface minutely pubescent with scattered longer hairs; ligule 0.5–1 mm. Raceme composed of 1–3 fertile spikelets with 1 or 2 vestigial spikelets below them. Spikelets 2.5–3 cm, subterete, florets 5–9; glumes glabrous or pubescent, lower glume narrowly lanceolate, 6–10 mm, 5–7-veined, apex acute, upper glume lanceolate, 10–13 mm, 7–9-veined, apex with a short hard mucro; lemmas lanceolate, 10–12 mm, densely pubescent, prominently 7-veined; awn 3–7 mm. Anthers ca. 3 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul–Nov.