Erect, tussocky perennial to c. 1 m high. Leaf blades 60 cm or more long, to 12 mm wide, flat when fresh, scabrous on upper surface, strongly ribbed. Panicle dense, 15–25 cm long, 6–8 cm wide; branches pubescent, 2–5 per node. Spikelets 6–8 mm long, mostly 3–5-flowered. Lower 2 or 3 florets fertile; upper florets male or sterile. Glumes membranous, acute, 1-veined; lower glumes 4–5.5 mm long; upper glume 5–6 mm long. Lemmas becoming progressively smaller up spikelet; lowest lemma 4.5–5.5 mm long, entire or bilobed at apex, 5–7-veined, dorsally glabrous, ciliate on lower margins; awn straight, 8–10 mm long, flat or sometimes slightly twisted. Paleas almost equalling lemmas, 2-veined, bilobed, stiffly ciliate on margins.
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