Pentameris calcicola var. hirsuta (H.P.Linder) Galley & H.P.Linder

Tufted perennial 200-300 mm high; basal sheaths brown, soon rotting away; leaves in a tight basal tussock; glands absent. Leaf blade to 30 x to 0.5 mm, rolled, rigid, hairy. Inflorescence 15-60 x 5-40 mm, open at anthesis, with 30-50 spikelets; pedicels not hidden by spikelets, glabrous or hairy; axils glabrous. Spikelet 6-7 mm long, silvery; lemma hairy along nerves; lateral awns 4-5 mm long; central awn 10-12 mm long; palea glabrous; anthers 2 mm long.