Pentameris capensis (Nees) Galley & H.P.Linder

Tangled perennial 200-350 mm high; hydrophyte; stolons horizontal; basal sheaths white, shiny, persistent; leaves basal; glands absent. Leaf blade to 120 x to 4 mm, expanded or occasionally rolled (possibly as a result of drying out before being pressed), glabrous; margins smooth; upper surface with papillae; sheath mouth glabrous. Inflorescence open, 50-120 x 30-50 mm, with ± 60 spikelets; pedicels and axils glabrous. Spikelet 6-9 mm long; glumes acuminate, green, glabrous; lemma 3-5 mm long, hairy all over or only in the middle; lobes acute to acuminate; lateral awns 6-10 mm long, exserted from glumes; central awn 15-23 mm long, curved, not geniculate, column not twisted; palea hairy along keels; anthers 1.7 mm long.