Velvety-leaved clumps to 180 cm, from short, stout rhizome, stoloniferous, sometimes rooting below; branching extravaginal. Leaf-sheath light yellow-green to light brown, papery, rounded, to somewhat keeled above, densely pilose, hairs soft, tubercle-based. Ligule c. 1 mm, densely ciliate. Leaf-blade c. 20 cm × 5-15 mm, linear-lanceolate, rounded at base, papery, flat, with numerous tubercle-based hairs, ribs numerous, fine, midrib thicker; margins somewhat thickened with close-set, long, prickle-teeth, tapered above to fine acuminate tip. Culm 2-5 mm diam., simple, or narrowly branched, nodes densely villous, internodes glabrous. Panicle of up to 12 racemes on a rachis up to 16 cm. Racemes to 7 cm, of numerous paired spikelets secund on flattened rachis; rachis with scabrid margins and a few, long, bulbous-based hairs; pedicels with a few long hairs. Spikelets 3-3.5 mm, glabrous. Glumes dissimilar; lower c. 1.5 mm, 1-nerved, ± triangular, upper ≈ spikelet, 5-nerved, elliptic. Lower floret ♂: lemma ≈ upper glume and similar in texture, 5-nerved; palea ≈ lemma; anthers c. 1.2 mm. Upper floret ☿: lemma c. 2.5 mm, 5-nerved, subcoriaceous, very finely papillose; palea c. 2 mm, of similar texture to lemma; anthers c. 1.5 mm; caryopsis c. 1.8 × 1.2 mm.
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