Robust grey-green tufts, 45-65 cm; branching extravaginal. Leaf-sheath chartaceous with membranous margins, ± distinctly ribbed, glabrous, stramineous, or reddish purple, especially in culm leaves. Ligule 0.7-1.0 mm, truncate, erose, sparsely ciliate, abaxially scabrid. Leaf-blade 6-20 cm × 1.5-3.0 mm, greyish green to later reddish, abaxially smooth, adaxially strongly ribbed, prickle-toothed on ribs; margins finely prickle-toothed. Culm 30-45 cm, nodes green to purple with an upper fringe of dense appressed hairs, internodes glabrous. Panicle 10-16 × 1-1.5 cm, linear-lanceolate, dense, contracted above, longer lower branches in slightly more distant clusters, scarcely spreading, spikelet-bearing to base; rachis, branches, and pedicels with short hair-like prickle-teeth. Spikelets 6-8 mm, green to stramineous or purple-suffused. Glumes 1-nerved, equal or upper very slightly longer, c. 6 mm, submembranous, elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, keels finely prickle-toothed. Lemma ≤ glumes, 6-7 mm, subcoriaceous, papillose, minutely prickle-toothed above, apex bifid with hyaline finely acuminate lobes 0.5-1 mm; awn 8-12 mm, middorsal, or from slightly above midway, geniculate, twisted, very hairy below. Palea < lemma, folded, keels prickle-toothed above, apex ciliate. Callus c. 0.2 mm, hairs to 4 mm. Rachilla 0.2-0.7 mm, glabrous or with a few hairs; prolongation 0.5 mm. Lodicules c. 0.5 mm, cuneate, ciliate. Stamens 3; anthers 1.0-1.5 mm. Gynoecium: ovary 1-1.3 mm; stigma-styles 0.7-1.5 mm, hairs almost to base. Caryopsis c. 3.5 × 1 mm, beaked; embryo 0.5 mm; hilum 2.0 mm. 2n= 70 (+ 2f).
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