Annuals. Flowering culms 6–40 cm high. Leaves: basal sheaths glabrous; blade 2–4 mm wide, glabrous or very sparsely pilose adaxially. Inflorescences: rachis pilose; branches 1.5–2 (–3) cm long, touching to close together, spreading to divaricate. Spikelets spreading to reflexed, overlapping or close together, linear to oblong, with l:w greater than 7, (12–) 14–30 mm long, 1–2.1 mm wide, 9–16-flowered, with (4–) 6–13 loosely overlapping bisexual florets; rachilla sometimes disarticulating between the florets (usually only below top 2 florets). Glumes: lower glume 1.7–2.9 mm long; upper glume 2.5–4.5 mm long. Basal lemma oblong to lanceolate, with back straight, 4–5.7 mm long, entire, aristulate or awned, similar in firmness to the glumes, firmly membranous, 3-nerved, smooth, glabrous; midnerve scaberulous. Upper bisexual lemmas becoming longer and narrower acropetally, lanceolate from second, with awns usually longer acropetally. Palea half lemma length (or less on upper florets); body scaberulous, glabrous; keels ciliolate. Distal incomplete florets with narrower lemmas, with longer awns relative to lemma body.
Occurs on ridges in shallow channels,or on river flood flats, in sand or clay loam, in low open shrubland orwoodlands of Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Petalostigma.
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