Dense, drooping perennial swards from long, narrow rhizomes, or stiff tufts to 90 cm, with light green leaves ≈ culms; branching extravaginal near plant base, intravaginal above; leaf-blades persistent. Leaf-sheath light green to light brown or straw-coloured, coriaceous, ribbed, smooth to finely scabrid, keeled. Ligule (0.2)-0.5-1 mm, a truncate stiff ciliate rim, abaxially with matted stiff minute hairs. Leaf-blade 5-30 cm × 2.5-4.5 mm, folded to flat, or inrolled and c. 1 mm diam., coriaceous, abaxially smooth, adaxially ribbed, covered with short prickle-teeth and sometimes short stiff hairs; margins ± thickened, smooth to sparsely scabrid, midrib scabrid near straight-sided, pungent tip. Culm 10-80 cm, internodes smooth, densely scabrid below panicle. Panicle 5.5-12 cm, lax or contracted; branches spreading or erect, sparsely to densely scabrid. Spikelets 6.5-14.5 mm, (2)-3-5-flowered, greyish green to light greenish brown. Glumes subequal, 3-nerved, elliptic-lanceolate, acute to acuminate, often with minute fine hairs near tip, occasionally scabrid throughout, midnerve ciliate-scabrid especially on upper ½; lower 4.5-7.5 mm, upper 4.5-8 mm; margins ciliate. Lemma 4.5-9 mm, 5-nerved, elliptic-to oblong-lanceolate, subobtuse to subacute, scabrid above or occasionally throughout, midnerve with long fine hairs to ½ length, lateral nerves hairy near base; margins minutely ciliate. Palea 3.5-7.5 mm, keels rather stiffly ciliate-scabrid, interkeel with sparse minute hairs. Callus with loose web of long fine crinkled hairs. Rachilla 0.5-1 mm, glabrous to sparsely minutely pubescent; prolongation twice as long. Lodicules 0.5-2 mm, occasionally hair-tipped. Anthers 2-3.5 mm. Caryopsis 2 × 0.5 mm. 2n= 112.
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