Densely tufted perennial; culms 54–74 cm. high, fairly slender, stiffly erect.. Leaf-blades linear, flat or convolute, 14–28 cm. long, 2.5–4.5 mm. wide, glabrous or sparsely pilose, finely pointed; ligule 0.4–1 mm. long.. Inflorescence 12–24 cm. long, linear-oblong with the spikelets loosely arranged; pedicels 5–48 mm. long, pubescent, those towards the base of the inflorescence branching to form lateral racemes with up to 4 spikelets.. Spikelets 11–18-flowered, oblong to narrowly oblong with a serrate outline, 9.5–15 mm. long, the lowermost florets slightly shorter than the rest, purplish; glumes linear-oblong, obtuse, the lower 2.6–3.1 mm. long, the upper 3.3–4 mm. long; lemmas lanceolate, 3.3–4.1 mm. long, membranous or somewhat cartilaginous, acuminate and mucronate; palea 2/3 as long as the lemma, the keels curved but not usually protruding from the floret.. Caryopsis ± 1 mm. long.. Fig. 74/9, p. 271.
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