Lax, bluish-green tufts to 140 cm, or solitary culms, from a slender creeping rhizome. Leaf-sheath closely appressed to culms, firmly membranous, striate, retrorsely scabrid or smooth, sometimes purplish. Ligule 0.5-2.7 mm, finely denticulate, abaxially glabrous. Leaf-blade (2.5)-5-12-(25) cm × (1.5)-2-7-(8.5) mm, slightly constricted at base and tapering gradually to acute tip, abaxially minutely retrorsely scabrid on ribs, adaxially scabrid or smooth, sometimes with scattered hairs; margins rather closely and finely scabrid. Culm decumbent and sometimes geniculate at base, erect above, upper internodes with scattered minute prickle-teeth and retrorsely scabrid below panicle, or all internodes smooth. Panicle 0.7-5.5 × 0.4-4.0 cm, ovate-globose to narrow-oblong with conspicuous bristling awns; rachis smooth, branches almost smooth, bearing a few scattered prickle-teeth. Spikelets 4-12-(20) mm, green or occasionally purplish. Glumes ≤ spikelet, lanceolate, acute, ± membranous, keel conspicuous, thickened, green-margined, ciliate. Lemma 3-4-(4.5) mm, 5-nerved, linear-lanceolate, finely scabrid above, apex minutely bilobed; awn (2.5)-3.5-9-(14) mm, stout, straight, finely scabrid. Palea ≤ lemma, keels and apex ciliate. Callus hairs 0.8-1.4 mm. Rachilla prolongation ⅓-½ length of palea, usually > 1 mm and hairy, or < 1 mm and glabrous. Lodicules minutely ciliate or glabrous. Anthers 0.9-1.5 mm. Ovary apex hairy. Caryopsis 1.5-2 × 0.6-0.8 mm. n = 21.
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Plants rhizomatous. Culms geniculate or ascending, 10–50 (–120) cm high, 3–7-noded. Leaves: basal sheath margins connate in lower half; blade 1.5–20 cm long, 1–8.5 (–10) mm wide. Panicles erect, 0.5–3 (–4) cm long. Spikelets shortly pedicellate, narrowly oblong to obovate, (2.1–) 3–5.1 mm long. Glumes about equal to or shorter than floret, acute, with margins obscurely ciliolate-scaberulous upwards (usually smooth near base); keel scabrous to hirsute; lower glume ovate to lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, (2–) 2.5–4 mm long; upper glume lanceolate to narrowly ovate or narrowly elliptic, (2–) 3–4.2 mm long, 1–3-nerved. Callus with silky hairs to 1 mm long. Lemma narrowly ovate to lanceolate or oblong, (2.1–) 3–4.7 mm long, acute, minutely bilobed or entire, awned, 5-nerved, scaberulous-scabrous towards apex; awn mostly 3–16 mm long, inserted 0.2–0.8 (–1) mm below apex. Palea narrowly ovate to lanceolate, acute, with nerves scabrous or puberulous towards apex. Anthers (0.5–) 1.5–1.8 mm long. Ovary hispid. Caryopsis ovoid to lanceoloid. [See also Green (1994: 463).]
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