Culms tufted at base, erect or geniculately ascending, 10–60 cm tall, 2-or 3-noded, glabrous or sparsely scabrous below spike. Leaf sheath smooth or sparsely scabrous; ligule 0.2–0.3 (–0.5) mm; leaf blade light green to green, sometimes glaucous, tightly involute or with involute margin, 2–10(–18) × 0.1–0.4 cm, both surfaces glabrous, scabrous, or nearly hairy. Spike slightly distichous, rarely secund, 4–11 × 1–1.5 cm; rachis scabrous on back and margin. Spikelets 1 per node, sessile or subsessile, glaucous, (10–)14–35 × 3–6 mm, with 2–5(–7) florets. Glumes lanceolate or lanceolate-ovate, scabrous along veins and sometimes abaxially, margin sometimes very narrowly hyaline, apex acute or mucronate; proximal glume 1.5–5 × 0.5–2 mm, (2 or)3(or 4)-veined; distal glume 3–5(–7.5) × 0.6–2 mm, 3–5-veined. Lemma narrowly lanceolate-elliptic, 7–10 × 1.3–2 mm, scabrous to pubescent abaxially; callus narrow, pointed, setulose or densely so; awn strongly curved at maturity, 1–3 cm. Palea shorter than or equaling body of lemma, glabrous to scabrous adaxially, ciliate along keels distally, apex rounded or obtuse. Anthers yellow to dark purple or black, 1–2 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul–Aug. 2n = 28*.
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