Annuals or short-lived perennials, tufted to weakly stoloniferous. Culms erect or arching, or geniculate ascending, 4–42 cm tall, 0.5–2 mm in diam., smooth, nodes 1–3(–4), none or 1 exserted, uppermost to 1/3 way up culm. Leaf sheaths loose, smooth, glabrous, 2–8 cm, 1–3 × as long as blade, uppermost closed for 1/3–1/2 of length; blade flat, thin, 3–10 cm × (1.5–) 2–5 mm, surfaces smooth or sparsely scabrid, margins scabrid, apex acutely prow-tipped, of tillers 1–10 cm; ligule 1.5–4(–6) mm, abaxially smooth or sparsely scabrid, apex obtuse to acute, collars glabrous. Panicle loosely contracted to open, oblong to pyramidal, 3–15(–19.5) × 1.5–5 cm, longest internodes 0.5–3 cm; branches obliquely ascending, spreading, or reflexed, flexuous, 2 per node, proximally smooth, distally scabrid, longest to 1–7 cm with 4–30 spikelets in distal 2/3. Spikelets ovate, usually purple tinged, 3.8–5(–6) mm, florets 3–5; vivipary absent; rachilla internodes 0.4–0.9 mm, smooth, glabrous; glumes usually purple, subequal to unequal, broad, keels smooth or sparsely scabrid, lower glume 1.5–2.7 mm, 1-veined, upper glume 2–3.1 mm, 3-veined; lemmas broadly elliptic, 2.5–3.3 mm, apex obtuse to acute, keel pilulose to shortly villous, rarely glabrous, for 1/2 length, marginal veins to 1/3, intermediate veins prominent, areas between veins smooth, glabrous; callus glabrous; palea glabrous between keels, keels sparsely scabrid, some smooth, medially sparsely pilulose. Anthers 0.5–0.9 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul–Sep. 2n = 28, 42.
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