Slender, wiry, green tufts, shortly rhizomatous; leaves semi-pungent, much < culms; new shoots both intra- and extra vaginal, swollen at base. Sheaths glabrous, pale, becoming grey-brown, some with scattered, long hairs above; collar hairs to 2.5 mm long; ligule 0.05-0.1 mm long; lamina up to 22 cm long, thick, flat to inrolled, usually with scattered to fairly dense, long, fine hairs, margins minutely scabrous. Culms up to 80 cm tall, glabrous, or finely scabrous below inflorescence. Racemose panicle erect, up to 7 cm long, with few large spikelets on slender pedicels; rhachis and pedicels densely clothed with short stiff hairs, with occasional longer hairs below spikelets and at branch axils. Spikelets 5-6-flowered, awns much exceeding glumes. Glumes usually purpled near margin and sometimes elsewhere, lanceolate, narrowing to long acute tip, ± equal, 13-20 mm long, lower 11-13- nerved, upper 9-nerved. Lemma 3-4 mm long, 9- nerved, upper row of hairs very dense, continuous, < lemma lobes, lower row lacking except for short marginal tufts, elsewhere shining, glabrous, margins shortly hair-fringed above; lemma lobes 8-13 mm long, soon tapering to long awns. Central awn 12- 17 mm long; column to 2-4.5 mm long, < or = upper lemma hairs. Palea 5-6.2 mm long, abruptly narrowed above, < upper lemma hairs, glabrous between keels and on margins. Callus 1.2-1.4 mm long, marginal hair tufts reaching lower marginal lemma tufts. Rhachilla 0.1-0.2 mm long. Anthers 0.5-0.7 and 1.9-3 mm long. Caryopsis 2-2.7 × 1- 1.4 mm; embryo 1-1.5 mm long; hilum c. 0.6 mm long. Naturalised in New Zealand from Australia.

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