Perennial, with slender creeping rhizomes. Culms 20–60 cm, 1–2 mm in diam. Leaf sheaths keeled, keel broadly winged, wing margin scabrid, otherwise smooth, glabrous or pubescent at junction with blade, lower sheaths purplish; leaf blades flat, thin, 6–15 cm × 2–5 mm, abaxial surface smooth, adaxial surface puberulent or scaberulous, transverse veinlets present; ligule 0.2–0.7 mm. Panicle lax, 3–10 cm, racemelike, 1-sided, erect (not nodding); spikelets 3–12, mostly borne in pairs or singly directly on main axis, lowest branch sometimes bearing 2 or 3 spikelets. Spikelets ovate, 7–10 mm, pale green or infrequently glumes pale purplish, fertile florets 2(or 3), terminal sterile lemmas gathered into globular cluster; glumes subequal, ovate, margins broadly membranous, lower glume 4–6 mm, 3–7-veined, upper glume 5–7 mm, 5–7-veined, both obtuse; lemmas lanceolate-oblong, lowest 6–10 mm, leathery, prominently 7–9-veined, additional intermediate veins in lower half, scaberulous or puberulous, apex obtuse; palea keels ciliolate. Anthers 1.2–1.7 mm. Fl. and fr. Apr–Jul.
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