Tufted tussock with pale, flabellate intravaginal branches of many smooth leaf-blades often exceeding the compact, short, stiffly erectly branched purple suffused inflorescences of many few-flowered closely packed spikelets with shortly prickle-toothed lemmas. Shoots dimorphic, narrow if vegetative, swollen if reproductive. Prophyll 4-5 cm, stramineous, pointed, keels antrorsely ciliate, interkeel antrorsely hairy. Branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath 5-10 cm, glabrous, stramineous, strongly nerved, margins membranous; apical auricles 0.4-0.5 mm, ciliate, symmetrical. Ligule as for auricles. Leaf-blade 12-25 cm × 0.8-1.0 mm diam., glaucous, glabrous, stiff, pointed, terete or shallowly compressed-terete, adaxially and on margins a multitude of short white antrorse hairs; TS: 7-8 vascular bundles, sclerenchyma discontinuous of up to 10-12 strands, costal sclerenchyma present. Culm 12-16-20-(40) cm, nodes hidden, internodes finely antrorsely prickle-toothed and very short hairy, almost always hidden. Panicle (5)-7-13 cm, narrow, compact, spike-like, with 13-15 nodes all hidden by 20-50 spikelets; branches mostly binate, erect, stiff, very close-set, imbricate, > nearest internode, not naked below, basal branch appressed, 2-4 cm, of 5-7 spikelets, uppermost 5-7 solitary, on short (1 mm) pedicels; rachis, branches, and pedicels shortly and densely prickle-toothed on margins, elsewhere frequently with antrorse short fine hairs. Spikelet 9-10-12 mm × 1.5-1.8 mm, narrow, of 3 florets; glumes, lemmas, paleas purple suffused above; lemma included, awns exserted. Glumes ± equal, 8-11 mm, 3-nerved, upper prominently so, centrally green, prickle-teeth on keel and above, margin hyaline, finely ciliate. Lemma 7 mm, lobes small (0.25 mm), 5-nerved sometimes evident, abundant small uniform prickle-teeth present throughout; awn 1.5-2.5 mm. Palea 6.5-7 mm, ≤ lemma, apex bifid (0.2-0.4 mm), ciliate; keels toothed ± to base, interkeel hairs to base, flanks shortly prickle-toothed in upper ½. Callus 0.1-0.2 mm, very shortly bearded near rachilla; articulation flat. Rachilla 1-1.25 mm, very shortly stiff hairy. Lodicules 0.6-0.8 mm, lobed, glabrous. Anthers 0.6-0.8 mm, purple; pollen shed from loculi. Gynoecium: ovary 1-1.25 mm, triangular turbinate, cap thickened, apex glabrous; stigma-styles 2-3 mm, stigmas sparingly branched. Caryopsis 2.7-3.0 mm, free but firmly enclosed by anthoecium; embryo 0.5-0.6 mm; hilum 2.0-2.5 mm. Cleistogamous. 2n=c. 170.
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