Annuals or short-lived perennials. Culms ascending to erect, sometimes slightly swollen at the base, sometimes with moniliform swelling, 30–85 cm tall, 0.6–1 mm in diam., smooth, glabrous to retrorsely strigulose, nodes 3 or 4, 2 exserted. Leaf sheaths weakly keeled, smooth or sparsely scabrid, glabrous or retrorsely strigulose, 8–13 cm, slightly shorter or longer than blade, uppermost closed for over 2/3 of length, lowermost becoming fibrous in age; blades flat, thin, 7–20 cm × (1–)1.5–5(–11) mm, surfaces smooth to moderately scabrid, margins moderately to densely scabrid; ligule 0.5–1.5(–2) mm, abaxially pilulose, apex truncate to rounded, collar margins ciliate. Panicle open, elliptic, narrowly ovate, or pyramidal, exserted, 10–21 × 3–10 cm, longest internodes 3–5.5 cm; branches ascending to widely spreading, or reflexed, 2–5 per node, slender, angular, scabrid from base, longest 3–11 cm with 9–40 spikelets in distal 1/2. Spikelets ovate, green, 2.5–5 mm, florets (2–)3–5; vivipary absent; rachilla internodes 0.5–0.8 mm, smooth to sparsely scabrid, glabrous or pilulose; glumes slightly unequal, lanceolate, keel and veins distally scabrid, lower glume 1.5–2.4 mm, 1-veined, upper glume 2–2.8 mm, 3-veined, often as long or slightly longer than lowest lemma; lemmas oblong, 1.6–2.6(–3) mm, apex obtuse to acute, keel shortly villous for 5/6 of length, marginal veins to 3/4, intermediate veins moderately prominent, area between veins pilulose for 4/5 of length, rarely glabrous; callus sparsely webbed; palea pilulose between keels, keels smooth, rarely with a few apical hooks, pilulose to shortly villous to apex. Anthers (0.4–)0.5–1 (–1.3) mm. Fl. and fr. Apr–Jun. 2n = 28.
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