Herbaceous perennial plants 30–90 cm high; base slightly thickened, pubescent. Culms fastigiately branched, glabrous; nodes bearded, sometimes pubescent or tuberculate. Leaves: sheaths shorter or slightly longer than culm internodes, mostly glabrous; blade to 30 cm long, to 4 mm wide, densely vesicular and pilose to hirsute with simple hairs on upper surface, pilose with stiff tubercle-based hairs on lower surface, sometimes glabrous on one or both surfaces, scabrous or smooth, with margins prickly-tuberculate. Panicles open, 5–10.5 cm long, 1–3.5 cm wide. Glumes 6–9 mm long, muticous, 7–9 (–11)-nerved, smooth, glabrous. Florets often cleistogamous, shorter than glumes. Lemma 4–8 mm long, awned, indurated and nerveless in lower part, membranous and 5-nerved (visible on inner surface) near apex, bisulcate, entirely hirsute (sometimes sparsely) with hairs exceeding apex, scabrous near apex; awn 18–30 mm long, curved. Palea elongated into beak 3–5 mm long and bifid into 2 bristle-like awns to 3 mm long, indumentum similar to lemma. Caryopsis 2.5–3 mm long.
Usually growsin deep sandy often whitish soils, in damp and seasonally flooded, oftenshaded, sites such as the channels and banks of watercourses, stream lines andgrassy swamps.
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