Tall tufted tussock with intravaginal branching sometimes internodes elongating below and rooting at nodes; inflorescence short, compact, usually shorter than tall leaf-blades with long awned abundantly prickle-toothed florets in shortly pedicelled spikelets. Prophyll 4-6 cm, stramineous and dark-brown papery on margins, keels mostly retrorsely hairy. Leaf-sheath 8-12-(20) cm, thin, pale, much broader than leaf-blades, minutely retrorsely or antrorsely hairy between nerves becoming glabrous above, margins dark brown membranous below; apical auricles 0-0.5 mm, ciliate. Collar conspicuously thickened and curved. Ligule 0.3-0.5 mm, ciliate. Leaf-blade (11-15)-20-35-(40) cm × (0.5)-06-0.8-(0.9) mm diam., glaucous, softly sharp-pointed, terete to somewhat compressed, glabrous, adaxially and on margin a multitude of short (0.15 mm) antrorse or erect prickle-teeth becoming smaller above; TS: 5 vascular bundles, sclerenchyma continuous; costal sclerenchyma often present. Culm 25-45 cm, almost always included by leaf-blades; nodes 2-3 dark, glabrous, sometimes ± geniculate; internodes glabrous or densely antrorsely short hairy sometimes becoming less so below. Panicle 6-10-(15) cm, narrow, compact, with 8-11 nodes, of 12-18 close-set, usually imbricate, spikelets; branches short, erect-appressed, basal branch 1-2 cm of 3-5 spikelets, not naked below, uppermost 6-10 spikelets solitary on short pedicels; rachis, branches and pedicels prickle-toothed on margins, and frequently also densely antrorsely short hairy becoming less so above, or ± glabrous. Spikelets 15-25-(30) mm, 5-6 mm wide, of 5-7 florets. Glumes evidently unequal, usually green centrally, broad, narrowing and becoming awned, prominently keeled, glabrous except for prickle-teeth on keel above and near awn, margin hyaline sometimes short hairy or finely ciliate; usually ≈ lowermost lemma, twice as long as nearest proximate internodes or in upper panicle twice proximate internodes of solitary spikelets; lower 4-10 mm, 1-nerved, upper 6-12 mm, 3-nerved (both longer on The Sisters). Lemma 6-10 mm, becoming briefly canaliculate, lobes 0 or extremely minute, 5-nerved, slightly keeled, abundantly striately prickle-toothed (0.15 mm) throughout, longer teeth and/or hairs below, and on keel and at margins below; awn 6-13 mm, usually > lemma. Palea 6-9 mm, usually < lemma, apex deeply (0.5-2 mm) bifid, keels toothed to base, interkeel hairs above, margins of flanks very shortly toothed; sometimes folded. Callus 0.3-0.6 mm, abundantly long (0.2 mm) hairy on upper margin, shorter centrally; articulation acute. Rachilla 1-1.6 mm, densely antrorsely long hairy. Lodicules 0.7-1.5 mm, conspicuously hair-tipped, simple lozenge-shaped to slightly lobed, ≤ ovary. Anthers 3.7-4.2 mm, orange. Gynoecium: ovary 1-1.4 mm, triangular turbinate, apex with narrow rim enclosing base of styles and central tuft of hispid hairs (0.2 mm); stigma-styles 2.5-3 mm. Caryopsis 3.7-4.6 mm, free but firmly enclosed by anthoecium; embryo 0.7-1 mm; hilum ≈ caryopsis. 2n= 56.
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