Grey-green, rather fine-leaved perennials, forming tufts 30-90 cm, with long slender rhizomes; branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath glabrous, brownish green or purplish. Ligule 0.7-2 mm, or up to 3 mm in culm leaves, taller than wide, somewhat tapered or rounded, minutely ciliate. Leaf-blade 4-16 cm × 1.5-4 mm, flat, finely scabrid, adaxially finely ribbed; margins scabrid, tip acute. Culm erect, internodes glabrous. Panicle 10-24 cm, linear-lanceolate to spreading, later more contracted; rachis, branches and pedicels sparsely scabrid to almost smooth. Spikelets 2-3 mm, grey-green to purplish; terminal spikelets usually with awned, 5-nerved lemmas, and lateral spikelets with awnless, 3-5-nerved lemmas. Glumes subequal, elliptic-lanceolate, acute or acuminate; lower with keel scabrid in upper ½, upper slightly shorter, smooth to scabrid on keel near tip. Lemma 1.6-2.2 mm, (3)-5-nerved, ovate-oblong, truncate-lobulate, the outer lateral nerves usually minutely excurrent, awned lemmas often with a few hairs in lower ½ near margin, awnless lemmas glabrous; awn, when present, from near base of lemma and ˜ lemma or up to twice length of lemma, occasionally awn very minute, middorsal or subapical and not projecting beyond lemma. Palea ½-⅔ length of lemma, apex shallowly bifid. Callus with minute tufts of hairs on either side, or sometimes glabrous in spikelets with awnless, 3-nerved, glabrous lemmas. Rachilla sometimes prolonged and tipped with a small tuft of hairs in awned spikelets. Anthers 1-1.5 mm. Caryopsis c. 1 × 0.4 mm.

Grey-green, rather fine-leaved perennial, forming tufts 30-90 cm tall, with long, slender rhizomes; branching intravaginal. Sheaths smooth, brownish green or purplish; ligule 0.7-2 mm, or up to 3 mm in culm leaves, somewhat tapered or rounded across the minutely ciliate tip, longer than wide; lamina 4- 16 cm × 1.5-4 mm, flat, finely scabrous, adaxially finely ridged, margins scabrous, tip acute. Culms erect, smooth. Panicle 10-24 cm long, linearlanceolate to spreading, then later more contracted; rachis, branchlets and pedicels sparsely scabrous to almost smooth. Spikelets 2-3 mm, grey-green to purplish; terminal spikelets usually with awned, 5- nerved lemmas, and lateral spikelets with awnless, 3-5-nerved lemmas. Glumes subequal, ellipticlanceolate, acute or acuminate; lower glume with keel scabrous in upper ½, upper glume slightly shorter, smooth to scabrous on keel near tip. Lemma 1.6-2.2 mm, (3)-5-nerved, ovate-oblong, truncatelobulate, the outer lateral nerves usually minutely excurrent, awned lemmas often with a few hairs in lower ½ near margin, awnless lemmas glabrous; awn, when present, from near base of lemma and ± = lemma or up to twice length of lemma, occasionally awn very minute, mid-dorsal or from just below lemma tip and not projecting beyond lemma. Palea ½-2/3 length of lemma, shallowly bifid. Callus with minute tufts of hairs on either side, or sometimes glabrous in spikelets with awnless, 3- nerved, glabrous lemmas. Rachilla sometimes produced and tipped with a small tuft of hairs in awned spikelets, otherwise 0. Anthers 1-1.5 mm. Caryopsis c. 1 × 0.4 mm. 2n = 42. Naturalised in New Zealand from S Europe and WAsia.