Very robust, yellow-green or glaucous tufts, 75-150-(200) cm, with stout rhizomes, often forming large patches. Leaf-sheath glabrous or very sparsely very fine hairy, firmly chartaceous, yellowish, adaxially shining, shredding into fibres at maturity, with chartaceous glabrous auricles 1.5-3 mm. Ligule 1-2-(3.5) mm, rim-like, minutely ciliate. Leaf-blade 10-65 cm × 4.5-16 mm, flat, to involute above, abaxially sometimes with very short fine hairs above collar, otherwise glabrous, adaxially strongly ribbed and finely pubescent-scabrid there, narrowed to smooth, hard, pungent tip. Culm 50-110-(160) cm, stout, erect, internodes glabrous except below nodes. Spike 25-40-(50) × (1.5)-2-3.5 cm, stiff, erect, tapered above, spikelets in clusters of 3s to 5s at nodes, or occasionally some paired, well-spaced near base and imbricate above; rachis angled with fine hairs on angles. Spikelets 15-25 mm, 4-6-flowered, straw-coloured, included by glumes. Glumes equal, very narrow-lanceolate, 1-3-nerved, smooth, coriaceous, the long-acuminate tip produced into fine shining awn, becoming ± patent, asymmetric at base, margins sometimes sparsely scabrid, adaxially finely hairy especially centrally. Lemma 10-15.5 mm, 5-7-nerved, elliptic, abaxially silky-pubescent below, glabrous near acute apex, adaxially with appressed very short silky hairs. Palea ≈ lemma, interkeel glabrous, shortly ciliate at notched apex. Callus 0.5 mm, bearded with long hairs. Rachilla 3-4 mm, hairy. Lodicules 2 mm, very long ciliate. Anthers 4.5-6.5 mm, sometimes pollen-sterile. Gynoecium golden: ovary 2 mm, hair covered; stigma-styles 2.5 mm. Caryopsis c. 6.5 × 2 mm.
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Culms to 100 cm tall, ca. 10 mm in diam., stout, scaberulous pubescent below raceme. Leaf sheath membranous at margin; ligule ca. 2 mm, membranous, apex truncate; leaf blade glaucous green, 20–40 × ca. 1.5 cm, abaxial surface smooth, adaxial surface and margin scabrous. Spike 15–30 × 1–2 cm; rachis stout, glabrous. Spikelets 4–6 per node, pale glaucous green, 1.5–2.2 cm, with 3–5 florets. Glumes linear-lanceolate, 12–20 mm, with robust midvein and 2 faint lateral veins, apex long acuminate. Lemma lanceolate, 7-veined, softly hairy proximally, awnless; first lemma 15–20 mm. Palea slightly shorter than lemma. Fl. and fr. Jun–Sep. 2n = 28.
It is a grass that keeps growing from year to year. It grows 1 m tall. The stems are 1 cm across. The leaf blade is 20-40 cm long by 1.5 cm wide.
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