Perennial; culms cespitose, erect, 80-100 cm. high, glabrous; sheaths usually much longer than the internodes, loose, glabrous, the lowermost becoming fibrous with age; ligule about 1 mm. long, hyaline; blades 15-30 cm. long, 4-6 mm. wide, soft, lax, shining, glabrous, the margins scabrous; panicles 15-25 cm. long, nod-ding, the slender branches drooping, naked in the lower half, scabrous, as much as 12 cm. long; spikelets 15-18 mm. long, 3-to 4-flowered; glumes narrow, acumi-nate, the first about 8 mm. long, 1-nerved, the second 9-10 mm. long, 1-to 3-nerved; lemmas scabrous, distinctly nerved, the first 14-15 mm. long, the upper ones successively shorter, the awns 1-3 mm. long.
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