Tall, erect, light-green, perennial tussock with fine crowded shoots and broad culm sheaths; branching intravaginal. Sheaths to 10 cm, glabrous, auricular lobes to 2 mm, subtended by row of long hairs, symmetrical or asymmetrical, apex ciliate. Ligule 0.7 mm, fimbriate. Lamina to 30 cm × 0.5 mm diam., inrolled, few-nerved, abaxially with antrorse prickle teeth between veins and some short stiff hairs, adaxially with abundant short hairs, margins with antrorse prickle teeth. Culms to 60 cm, nodes glabrous, internodes shortly pubescent below nodes, elsewhere glabrous. Inflorescence to 20 cm, contracted; rachis, branches, and pedicels with short stiff hairs. Glumes subequal, purple below.produced into long fine hyaline awn-like processes, 3-nerved, > awn column, lower to 15 mm, upper to 12 mm. Lemma to4.5 mm, sparsely hairy becoming scabrous above, lobes to 0.5 mm; coma obscure or of few short hairs; awn to 40 mm, falcate, column 10 mm, arista to 30 mm, with short hairs, lightly twisted. Palea with sparsely hairy internerve, apex glabrous. Callus to 1.5 mm, hairs to 1.5 mm. Anthers 1.75 mm, penicillate. Our specimens are too immature to describe other floral organs.