Small, blue-green or light green, narrow-leaved, stiff tussocks, 5-30-(70) cm, with tightly-packed shoots; branching intravaginal; leaf-blades disarticulating at ligule. Leaf-sheath light straw-coloured, later greyish brown, somewhat coriaceous, glabrous, indistinctly ribbed, tightly inrolled with narrow hyaline margins; upper sheaths sometimes purplish. Ligule 0.5-5.5 mm, entire, apically glabrous, rounded to tapered, abaxially minutely scabrid or smooth. Leaf-blade 5-15-(30) cm, usually tightly inrolled and c. 0.5 mm diam., abaxially glabrous, adaxially slightly to densely short pubescent-scabrid; margins finely scabrid, tip truncate, almost smooth with a few minute prickle-teeth, or fine-acicular and finely scabrid. Culm 5-20-(40) cm, erect, usually overtopping but often = leaves, internodes glabrous. Panicle 1-10-(15) cm; branches ± spreading, few to many, often short, almost filiform, smooth to ± finely scabrid, tipped by 1-3 rather large spikelets. Spikelets (3.5)-5-7-(10.5) mm, 2-5-(7)-flowered, light green to brownish. Glumes subequal, subacute to acute, glabrous, midnerve with a few minute prickle-teeth near tip; lower 2-3-(4) mm, 1-3-nerved, narrow elliptic-lanceolate, upper (2)-2.5-3.5-(4) mm, 3-nerved, ovate-to elliptic-lanceolate; margins minutely fimbriate. Lemma (2.5)-3-4-(5) mm, 5-nerved, ovate-to elliptic-lanceolate, subobtuse, in some long-liguled plants with fine hairs on lower ½-⅓ of midnerve and short hairs near base of lateral nerves, otherwise nerves scabrid or smooth, internerves densely scabrid to smooth, rarely with a few scattered hairs near base; margins glabrous to finely ciliate-scabrid. Palea 2-4-(5) mm, keels finely ciliate-scabrid, interkeel minutely pubescent-scabrid. Callus in long-liguled forms sometimes with a tuft of tangled hairs, otherwise glabrous or very rarely with a few short wispy hairs. Rachilla 0.5-1 mm, smooth to strongly densely scabrid. Lodicules c. 0.5 mm. Anthers 1-2 mm. Caryopsis c. 1-2 × 0.5 mm. 2n= 28. Plate 7E.
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