Small, compact, light green or blue-green tussocks; leaves pungent, acicular, ± = or usually slightly < culms, disarticulating at ligule; new shoots intravaginal. Sheaths pale stramineous; collar hairs to 1.5- (2.5) mm long; ligule (0.3)-0.5 mm long; lamina to 15 cm long, glabrous, stiff, inrolled, margins scabrous. Culms up to 25 cm tall, glabrous, scabrous below inflorescence. Racemose panicle small, compact, erect, up to 4-(6) cm long, of very few spikelets on short slender pedicels; rhachis and pedicels shortscabrous with few longer hairs below spikelets and at branch axils. Spikelets 4-5-(6)-flowered, awns equalling or slightly exserted from glumes. Glumes sometimes purpled, lanceolate, acute or subacute, 9-ll-(15)mm long, ± equal, lower (3)-5-(7)- nerved, upper 3-nerved. Lemma 2-2.5-(2.8) mm long, 9-nerved, upper row of hairs continuous but sparse, with one or two stronger marginal tufts and tufts of few hairs between, much < lemma lobes, lower row of strong marginal tufts and scattered tufts between, just reaching to upper row, glabrous elsewhere but occasional hairs centrally and on margins; lemma lobes 3-5-(6) mm long, tapering to fine awn. Central awn 7-8.5 mm long; column (1.5)—2—2.5 mm long, usually > upper lemma hairs. Palea 3.5—4 mm long, usually > upper lemma hairs, glabrous between keels, margins very rarely with 1-2 long hairs. Callus (0.3)-0.4-(0.5) mm long, with sparse marginal hair tufts reaching lower lemma hairs. Rhachilla 0.6-0.9 mm long. Anthers 0.6-l-(1.6) mm long, red or pinkish-red. Caryopsis 1.5-1.8 × 0.6- 0.8 mm; embryo 0.6-0.8 mm long; hilum 0.4- 0.5 mm long. Endemic.

Gramen brevius, dense caespitosum, rigidiusculum, innovationes intravaginales gerens, foliorum forma, et lemmatis pilis in duobus continuis seriebus dispositis, R. setifolio simile, manifeste autem differt lobis lemmatis longioribus. Differt etiam margine folii scabrido, paniculae ramis arete scabridis, antherisque brevioribus; in his characteribus R. buchananii simile, differt autem ab eo specie lemmatibus pilosioribus, lobisque lemmatis longioribus.

2n = 48

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