Many-tufted perennials, with mostly inclined culms from an extremely short, slender, knotted, wiry rhizome. Leaf-sheath light green, or distinctly red, or purplish, keeled, submembranous, smooth, sometimes minutely scabrid above; margins glabrous. Ligule ciliate, hairs 0.5-1.2 mm. Collar hairs few, long, tubercle-based. Leaf-blade 5-15 cm × 1.5-6 mm, flat, linear, twisted in upper ½, tapering to scabrid, narrowly acuminate tip, often glaucous, abaxially with obvious midrib, smooth to somewhat scabrid, adaxially scabrid. Culm (2)-20-60 cm, slender, somewhat compressed, internodes very short-pubescent to scabrid just below panicle. Panicle (1.5)-2.5-8.5 cm × 3-8 mm, narrow-cylindric, dense-flowered; rachis densely, softly scabrid-pubescent, with numerous very short branches each bearing a single spikelet subtended by 4-7 unequal, whitish or yellowish, antrorsely scabrid bristles (1.5)-2.5-6 mm. Spikelets 2.2-3 mm, pale green, elliptic, acute. Glumes broadly ovate, obtuse to subacute or apiculate; lower 1-2 mm, 3-nerved, usually < ½ but occasionally to ⅔ length of spikelet, upper 1.5-2.5 mm, 5-nerved, usually ¾ length to occasionally ≈ spikelet. Lower floret: lemma 5-(7)-nerved, ovate; palea = lemma, keels glabrous, rounded. Upper floret: lemma ≈ spikelet, sometimes apiculate, indurated, transversely rugose with close, narrow ridges, convex, greenish at first, later purple-tipped; palea ≈ lemma, somewhat indurated, very finely rugose, keels thickened, smooth except for a few minute prickle-teeth near apex, margins hyaline; anthers 0.6-0.9 mm; caryopsis 1-1.5 mm.