Stout or slender, moderately tall, extravaginal tufts, leaves < culms. Sheaths light brown, sometimes purpled, usually glabrous below and scaberulous above, rarely with projecting hairs; ligule (0.5)-1-1.5 mm long, membranous, ciliate across truncate top, scabrous to ciliate on back, often asymmetric; lamina to 10 cm long, 1.5- 2.5 mm wide, rather stiff, flat, minutely scabrous along nerves and margins, tapered towards tip. Culms 35-70 cm tall, glabrous, often minutely scaberulous near nodes. Panicle (5.5)-10-16 cm long, ± lax, with short, ± erect, few-flowered branchlets; rachis, branchlets and pedicels shortscabrous, partly visible among spikelets; spikelets pale, shining. Glumes ± equal, > lemma, ellipticlanceolate, aristate, hyaline apart from scabrous midnerve, lower 4-5.5-(6) mm long, upper 4.5- 6 mm long. Lemma 3.5-5 mm long, surface minutely scabrous, tip opaque, scabrous, bifid; awn 10-20 mm long, once geniculate, brownish, inserted 0.3-0.5-(0.9) mm below lemma tip, column tightly twisted several times. Palea 3-4 mm long, narrowlinear, keels scabrous near ciliate tip. Callus hairs 0.5-1 mm long. Lodicules 0.5-0.7 mm long, ellipticoblong, bifid at shortly ciliate tip. Rachilla prolongation usually obvious, up to c. 1 mm long. Anthers 1-3, 0.8-1.9 mm long in chasmogamous flowers, 0.4-0.9 mm long in cleistogamous flowers. Caryopsis (1.4)-1.8-2 × 0.3-0.4 mm; embryo 0.2- 0.4 mm long; hilum (1.2)-1.6-1.8 mm long. Naturalised in New Zealand from Australia.

[Unable to display]