Perennial. Culms 140–250 cm high, densely tufted, unbranched or rarely branched; base not distinctly bulbous but occasionally swollen, fibrous with distinct coppery hairs, cataphylls absent; nodes glabrous or hairy. Leaves: ligule a fringed membrane to c. 1 mm long; blade 15–35 cm long, 1–6 mm wide. Inflorescences subdigitate or digitate racemes; racemes 2–14 per inflorescence with 30–50-spikelet pairs, 10–25 cm long, with white to tawny-coloured hairs; raceme internodes 4.5–5.8 mm long, slightly longer than pedicels of the pedicelled spikelet, internodes densely villous on margins and lengthening towards tip. Spikelets narrowly elliptic, linear or lanceolate, 6–8.25 mm long, 0.8–1.4 mm wide; callus c. 0.8 mm long; lower glume shape and size as per spikelet, truncate and notched at apex, usually furrowed between keels, the furrow usually more pronounced near the base of the glume, white or tawny brown at apex quickly becoming dark red/brown to base, ciliate on keels and in furrow towards base; upper glume lanceolate, apex acute or narrowly truncate, sometimes shallowly notched either side of shortly acute tip, as long as lower lemma, copper-coloured, ciliolate on margins towards apex, with short appressed hairs around apex on outer surface and occasionally long hairs on keel of the outer surface; lower lemma linear, c. 5.5 mm long, ciliate at apex; upper lemma 2.8–3.5 mm long (including lobes); awn 24–28 mm long.
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