Plants moderately fine, tufted perennial, mostly less than 80 cm tall; ligule ciliar; leaflets mostly flat to folded, linear, mostly with two or more series of ± developed motor cells; silica cells dumb-bell shaped; inflorescence a panicle; spikelets 4-8 - flowered; glumes ± completely enclosing florets; lemmas conspicuously lobed; middle nerve prolonged into conspicuous awn with flattened and twisted base; long lemma hairs mostly in tufts in one or two ± complete transverse series; callus ± flattened, edges barbate; flowers hermaphrodite (cleistogens not known); lodicules 2, ± truncate, long ciliate; stamens 3; styles 2; caryopsis free, 2-3 mm long ± pyriform; embryo 1/3 to ½ the length of grain; hilum basal, round to somewhat elliptic.

Gramen tenuius, caespitosum, perenne, plerumque minus 80 cm altum; ligula ciliaris; foliola plerumque plana vel plicata, linearia, plerumque duabus vel pluribus seriebus cellularum bulliformium ± maturarum; cellulae siliceae halteriformes; inflorescentia paniculata; spiculae 4—8 - florae; glumae ± omnino flores amplectentes; lemmatum lobi conspicui; medius nervus in conspicuam aristam productus complanatam basi tortamque; lemma longum, pili plerumque penicillatim dissiti in 1- vel 2- ± completis transversis seriebus; callus ± complanatus, marginibus barbatis; flores hermaphroditi (cleistogenia numquam visa); lodiculae 2, ± truncatae, longe ciliatae; stamina 3; styli 2; caryopsis libera, 2-3 mm longa, ± pyriformis; embryo tertia pars vel dimidium caryopsis longitudine; hilum basale, rotundum vel paulo ellipticum.