Very variable perennial; coarse light green to greenish-brown to bluish-green tufts to c. 70 cm tall, with stiff erect leaves shorter than stems, or often scrambling and trailing with hanging leaves and stems drooping from thick stolons to 2 m long, rooting at nodes below tufts; new shoots extravaginal, with up to three, short, smooth, obtuse, bractlike sheaths at base; laminae persistent. Sheaths light green to light brown, coriaceous, folded and strongly keeled, lateral nerves conspicuous, smooth or slightly scabrous above, rarely minutely scabrous throughout; ligule c. 0.5 mm long, a truncate rim, scabrous abaxially and usually longer-ciliate across top; lamina coriaceous, folded to flat, abaxially with prominent, thickened keel, and numerous, distinct lateral nerves, smooth apart from prickle-teeth near tip, adaxially without prominent nerves, and smooth between nerves, margins thickened, tips acuminate or abruptly acute, scabrous. Culms smooth, often not far exserted beyond uppermost leaf sheath. Panicle much-branched, branches whorled, very slender; rachis and primary branchlets often smooth, secondary branchlets finely, sharply, densely or sparsely scabrous or smooth, often spikelet-bearing throughout, or almost throughout. Spikelets numerous, light green. Glumes subequal, narrow- to elliptic-lanceolate, acute to subobtuse, upper 2/3 scabrous throughout, or occasionally glumes entirely smooth; lower glume slightly shorter, upper (2.5)-3-4-(5) mm long, 3- nerved. Lemma 3-4.5 mm long, elliptic-oblong, with short crimped hairs to lh length midnerve and near base of outer lateral nerves, margins minutely scabrous. Palea 2.5-4 mm long, finely scabrous along keels, smooth or minutely scabrous between keels and on margins. Lodicules c. 0.5 mm long, occasionally hair-tipped. Callus with a thick tuft of soft crimped hairs. Rachilla c. 0.5 mm long, smooth or minutely, sparsely scabrous, projection about twice as long. 2n = 28.

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