Perennials, not glaucous, loosely tufted, not rhizomatous; shoots extravaginal. Culms erect or decumbent at base, 10–80 cm tall, 1–2.5 mm in diam., smooth or finely scabrid, nodes 3 or 4, 2 or 3 exserted, uppermost more than 1/2 way up. Leaf sheaths smooth or scabrid, glabrous, lowermost becoming papery, 6–13 cm, 2/3–1.5 × as long as blade, uppermost closed for 1/2–3/5 of length; blades flat, thin, 4.5–20 cm × 1–4 mm, abaxially dull, surfaces and margins scabrid, uppermost reaching into the panicle; ligule milky-membranous, (1–)2–4 mm, abaxially smooth or scabrid, apex obtuse to acute, collar smooth or scabrid. Panicle open, lax, 6–20 × 1–5 cm, longest internode 2–5 cm; branches ascending, spreading or reflexed, flexuous, 1 or 2 per node, slender, proximally rounded and smooth, distally scabrid on and sparsely between angles, longest 3.5–9 cm with 1–7 well-spaced spikelets in distal 1/2. Spikelets elliptic-oblong, 5–7.5 mm, florets 2 or 3; vivipary absent; rachilla internodes 0.7–1.8(–2.5) mm, smooth, minutely bumpy, or pilulose; glumes unequal to subequal, narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, apex acuminate, surfaces minutely punctate with purple papillae, smooth or sparsely scabrid, keel and sometimes lateral veins scabrid, lower glume (2.7–)3–5 mm, 1(or 3)-veined, upper glume (3.4–)4–6.3 mm, 3-veined; lemmas 4–6.3 mm, intermediate veins faint to moderately prominent, keel shortly villous or pilulose for 1/3 of length, marginal veins to 1/4, surfaces proximally densely crisply pilulose to finely scabrid or minutely bumpy, distally minutely bumpy to sparsely scabrid; callus glabrous; palea scabrid or pilulose between keels, keels scabrid. Anthers 1.6–2.8 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Aug. 2n = 42.
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