Tufted perennial 120-400 mm high. Leaf blade to 300 x about 1 mm. Inflorescence 25-70 mm long, contracted, dense. Spikelet 4.5-7.0 x 2.5-4.0 mm, ovate, green or purple; 4-6-flowered; lemma sparsely to densely pubescent, never glabrous, hairs 1.0-1.5 mm long, never club-shaped; lobes subacute to acute, narrow, 1-nerved; central slender awn or mucro up to 1 mm long in sinus between lobes; palea hairy between and on keels; anther 0.6-1.2 mm long.
Perennial, up to 400 mm tall. Leaves linear; ligule a fringe of hairs or a fringed membrane. Inflorescence a compact panicle. Spikelets 4.5-7 mm long, 4-6-flowered; glumes ± equal, scabrid, shorter to longer than spikelet, 5-7-nerved; lemmas rounded, lobed or shallowly notched, densely pubescent, hairs up to 1.5 mm long, mucro up to 1 mm long or absent, 7-9-nerved; anthers 0.8-1.2 mm long.
Perennial to 40 cm. Leaves linear. Spikelets 4-6-flowered, in a compact panicle, green or purple, lemmas densely pubescent, with a short mucro to 1 mm.