Short, shining tussock with smooth, pungent leaves, twisting or straight but deciduous and leaving many imbricate old sheaths. Sheaths to 12 cm, shining above, darkened below, sometimes purpled or reddened, persistent, entire, compressed, sometimes with a tuft of hairs at apex to 1 mm. Lamina to 30 cm × 6 mm, keeled, pungent, conduplicate, disarticulating at ligule, abaxially glabrous except for prickle teeth towards apex, adaxially papillate but with some prickle teeth especially near ligule; margin thickened, long hairs below or sometimes with prickle teeth. Culms to 65 cm, often purpled, often hairy below inflorescence. Inflorescence to 15 cm, open, pulvinate; spikelets often paired on flexuous branches; rachis, branches, and pedicels with mixed long and short hairs or rachis hairy on margins only. Spikelets of up to 7 golden florets. Glumes thin, purpled, acute or mucronate from between teeth or aristate to erose, > adjacent lemma lobes; lower to 12 mm, shortly 1- 3-nerved, glabrous, upper to 16 mm, 5-7-nerved, margin often long hairy below otherwise glabrous. Lemma to 6 mm, shining; hairs dense at margin and aside central nerve, < sinus; lateral lobes to 6.5 mm including awn to 3 mm, or triangular-acute or long acute; central awn to 12 mm slightly twisting and markedly reflexed from flat column to 2 mm. Palea to 7 mm. Rachilla to 1.5 mm. Callus to 1 mm, hairs to 2.5 mm. Lodicules to 2 mm. Anthers to 4 mm. Gynoecium: ovary to 0.75 mm, stigma-styles to 3.5 mm. Caryopsis to 3 mm.

2n = 36

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