Tall, coarse, dense, erect or slightly decumbent perennial shortly rhizomatous tussock with closeset, white shoots, swollen at base; branching extravaginal, cataphylls numerous. Sheaths to 2 cm, finely scabrous, terminating in a tuft of hairs to 1.5 mm. Ligule to 0.2 mm, ciliate. Lamina to 10 cm × 1 mm diam., tightly rolled, rigid, abaxially scaberulous with shortretrorseprickle teeth, adaxially papillate and with occasional hairs and prickles, more so near collar, margins antrorsely scabrous. Culms to 50 cm, nodes pubescent, internodes below nodes pubescent, glabrous elsewhere. Inflorescence to 20 cm, contracted, verticels with many branches; rachis, branches and pedicels with short stiff hairs. Glumes unequal, purple-suffused, green below, producedinto fine, hyaline awn-like processes 1 mm long; lower to 16.5 mm, 3-nerved, glabrous below ± reaching to top of awn column, upper to 10 mm, 5- nerved, nerves with short stiff hairs below, becoming scabrous above except at tip. Lemma to 6 mm, 7- nerved, cylindrical, clothed in grey hairs becoming golden brown at maturity, lobes small (0.2 mm) or absent; coma to 2 mm; awn to 40 mm, 2-geniculate, column with short hairs, tightly twisted, to 8 mm, loosely twisted to 8 mm above, arista to 25 mm. Palea weakly 2-nerved intemerve hairs few, apex ciliolate. Callus to 1.6 mm, hairs to 2.5 mm. Lodicules 3, ligulate, to 2 mm. Anthers to 2 mm, penicillate. Chasmogamous.