Tufted perennial without rhizomes; culms 25-50 cm high, erect or curved at the base. Leaf-blades convolute, 4-12 cm long, 2-3 mm wide, rigid, scaberulous above, smooth beneath. Spike linear, 2.5-8 cm long, ± cylindrical. Spikelets ascending, imbricate; glumes lanceolate, 3-4.5 mm long, glabrous or with scattered long hairs, ± abruptly tapering at the tip, with an awn up to 3 mm long; lemma 5-6 mm long, glabrous, with an awn 1-3 mm long.