Culms tufted at base, slender, 50–100 cm tall, 3–5-noded, glabrous or scabrous below spike. Leaf sheath smooth or scabrous to sparsely hairy, margin sometimes ciliate; ligule 0.2–0.5 mm; leaf blade flat, 6–15 × 0.25–0.8 cm, both surfaces scabrous or pubescent. Spike ± nodding at flowering, distichous, 7.5–21 cm; rachis glabrous or ± scabrous on back and margin. Spikelets 1 per node, subsessile, green or purplish, 20–40 × 2–6 mm, with 3–7(–9) developed florets. Glumes oblong, lanceolate, or subovate, scabrous abaxially or only along veins, margin narrowly hyaline, apex mucronate; proximal glume 1.5–3 × 0.5–1.2 mm, 2-or 3-veined; distal glume 3–5.5 × 0.6–1.5 mm, 3–5-veined. Lemma lanceolate, 8–11.5 × 1.2–1.8 mm, glabrous, pubescent, or densely so abaxially; awn straight or slightly curved, 1–2 mm at maturity; callus setulose to densely so. Palea slightly shorter than lemma, scabrous-pubescent to pubescent adaxially, ciliate along keels distally, apex obtuse. Anthers yellow or purple, 2–3 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Jul. 2n = 28*.