Stiff, wiry, small tussocks, tufts formed at ends of elongating shoots, rooting at nodes; leaves ≤ culms, semi-pungent, disarticulating at ligule; branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath glabrous, light grey to dark brown; apical tuft of hairs 1-1.5 mm. Ligule c. 0.5 mm. Leaf-blade to 15 cm, glabrous, stiff, inrolled, margins glabrous. Culm to 40 cm, internodes glabrous. Raceme or racemose panicle small, erect, to 4 cm, of very few large spikelets on short pedicels; rachis and pedicels almost glabrous with only a few scattered teeth and usually small tufts of long hairs at branch axils. Spikelets 4-6-flowered, awns and sometimes lemma lobes exserted from glumes. Glumes green, lanceolate, acute, 8.5-15 mm, ± equal; lower 5-(7)-nerved, upper 3-nerved. Lemma 2.5-3.5 mm, 9-nerved, upper row of hairs inter-rupted, dense marginal tufts and a few additional hairs adjacent, hairs « lemma lobes, lower row almost continuous, with dense strong marginal tufts and less dense tufts between, overlapping upper, glabrous elsewhere; lobes 4.5-8 mm, narrowing to strong awn and often shortly lobed at awn base; central awn 7.5-14 mm, column 2.5-4 mm, > upper lemma hairs. Palea 3.6-6 mm, = or slightly > upper lemma hairs, interkeel glabrous, margins with 1-2 long hairs. Callus 0.7-1 mm, strong marginal hair tufts overlapping lower lemma hairs. Rachilla 0.5-0.6 mm. Anthers 0.7-1.1 and 1.5 mm, yellow. Caryopsis c. 2.5 × 1.0 mm; embryo c. 1.0 mm; hilum 0.5 mm. Plate 11G.
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