Annuals to short-lived perennials, tufted or weakly stoloniferous. Culms erect, geniculate, or obliquely ascending, 15–50(–80) cm tall, 0.5–2 mm in diam., smooth, nodes 2–4, 0–2 exposed. Leaf sheaths loose, keeled, smooth, glabrous, 5–11 cm, about as long as blade, uppermost closed for 1/2(–3/4) of length; blades flat, thin to moderately thin, 4–20 cm × (1.5–)2–7(–11) mm, uppermost 3–10 cm, surfaces smooth to sparsely scabrid, margins scabrid, apex acutely to acuminately prow-tipped; ligule 0.5–1.5(–2) mm, abaxially smooth or scabrid, glabrous or rarely pilulose, apex truncate to obtuse, collar margins usually ciliate. Panicle open or loosely contracted, ovate or elliptic, exserted, 5–15(–22) × 3–10 cm, longest internodes 1–3 cm; branches ascending to reflexed, 2(–4) per node, proximally smooth or sparsely scabrid angled, distally nearly smooth to densely scabrid angled, longest 3–9 cm with 10–35 spikelets in distal 1/2. Spikelets elliptic, light green, 3.5–5(–7) mm, florets 3–6(–7); vivipary absent; rachilla internodes 0.5–0.8 mm, smooth, glabrous; glumes subequal to equal, keel and sometimes veins scabrid, lower glume narrow, 1.3–3.3 mm, 1-veined, upper glume broader, 1.5–3.4 mm, 3-veined; lemmas oblong to elliptic, 2.4–4(–5) mm, apex obtuse, rarely acute, keel villous to near apex, marginal veins for 3/4 of length, intermediate veins prominent, glabrous, rarely pilulose, areas between veins minutely bumpy, glabrous or infrequently pilulose proximally between keel and intermediate veins; callus webbed; palea smooth, glabrous, rarely sparsely pilulose, between keels, keels pilulose to short villous for most of length, distally pilulose or with a few hooks. Anthers (0.4–)0.6–1 mm. Fl. and fr. Apr–Jun.
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