Coarse long-leaved, dioecious, extravaginally branching often pendulous grass with elongate internodes and rooting at nodes; leaf-blades persistent. Leaf-sheath 10 cm, keeled, ribbed, open to base, becoming dull brown and fragile, finely retrorsely hairy, margin membranous, darker brown. Ligule 1 mm, ciliate, abaxially finely hairy. Collar conspicuous, margin short hairy. Leaf-blade to 80 cm × 3-4 mm, coriaceous, folded below and at apex, ± flat elsewhere, abaxially glabrous with some long hairs near collar, adaxially clothed with many small antrorse hairs, denser near ligule; margins very sparsely prickle-toothed below becoming almost smooth but apex prickle-toothed and sharp-pointed. Culm to 85 cm, many noded, erect or with some geniculate nodes, nodes swollen, coloured, glabrous; internodes glabrous. Panicle to 25 cm, open, violet-suffused, subtended by bract to 2.5 mm; several to many solitary rarely binate branches at internodes, naked below with solitary spikelets, branches > internodes; rachis glabrous, branches and pedicels glabrous to sparsely shortly prickle-toothed. Spikelets 10-12 mm × 2 mm, gaping at anthesis, (1)-3-4-6 widely separated florets. Glumes unequal, centrally green, violet elsewhere, nerves elevated; lower 2.5-3.5 mm, 1-3-nerved, upper 3.5-5 mm, 5-nerved (3 long, 2 short) adaxially shortly hairy at apex, margins ciliate. Lemma 4.5-6 mm, 5-nerved, centrally green, violet elsewhere, abundantly finely pubescent throughout, keel prickle-toothed above, margins ciliate, membranous above, apex recurved, shortly lobed and mucronate (0.05 mm or 0) becoming erose. Palea 4.5-5.2 mm, ≤ lemma, apex bifid, keels minutely stiff hairy. Callus 0.25 mm, short, blunt, glabrous or with a few prickle-teeth. Rachilla 1.5 mm, glabrous or with a few prickle-teeth at base; prolonged. Lodicules 0.5-1.0 mm, acutely lobed, tip ciliate. Anthers (a) male flowers: 2.75-3-3.75 mm, yellow or violet-suffused; (b) female flowers: 2-2.2 mm, white, pollenless. Gynoecium (a) male flowers: 0.8-1.0 mm; (b) female flowers: ovary 0.8-1.2 mm, glabrous; stigma-styles 2-3-3.5 mm, widely disposed, stigmatic hairs almost to base. Caryopsis not seen.
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