Hermaphroditic. Perennials, short-lived; tufted, commonly weakly stoloniferous to rhizomatous, with or with out small bead-like swellings on the lateral shoots, tufts somewhat loose dense; green or violaceous; tillers extravaginal, (cataphylls readily disintegrating). Culms (20--) 45--90 (--120) cm tall, decumbent to erect, sometimes trailing and rooting at the nodes, terete or weakly compressed; nodes terete or slightly compressed, (0--)1--3 exerted. Leaves; leaf sheaths strongly compressed, basal most sheaths, bulb absent, nearly smooth to densely, retrorsely scabrous, bases of basal sheaths glabrous, flag-leaf sheath margins fused ca. 1/4--1/2 the length, 0.5--4 x long as its blade; throats and collars smooth or scabrous, glabrous, collars flared; ligules 3--10 mm long, abaxially scabrous or smooth, the uppermost ones generally smooth, apices acute to acuminate; of sterile shoots similar to those of culm leaves but shorter; blades 1--5 (--6) mm wide, folded, lightly scabrous over veins, margins scabrous, apices narrowly prow-tipped, cauline blades in the middle. sterile shoots few, with narrower blades; Panicles (6--) 8--27 cm long, erect or lax, pyramidal, open, with 35 to over 100 spikelets; axis with (2--) 3--8 branches per node; primary branches ascending to spreading, flexuous to fairly straight, angled, angles densely scabrous, lateral pedicels mostly 0.2--1 mm long; longest branches 2--8(--10) cm, crowded, with 5--35 spikelets in distal 3/4--1/2. Spikelets (2.2--) 2.5--4 (--4.5) mm long, ovate to lanceolate, to 3 x long as wide, laterally compressed, not bulbiferous, green or often violaceous in part; florets 2--3 (--4); rachilla internodes smooth or muriculate; glumes unequal to subequal, distinctly keeled, scabrous on keel and ; apices acuminate to acute, pointed; lower glumes (1.7) 3--3 mm long, subulate to narrowly lanceolate, usually arched to sickle-shaped, 1-veined, distinctly shorter than lowest lemma; upper glumes 2.2--3.5 mm, 3-veined; calluses webbed, hairs over 2/3 the lemma in length; lemmas (2--) 2.2--3.4 (--3.9) mm long, 5-veined, lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels to 3/5 usually sparsely softly puberulent, marginal veins glabrous or infrequently to 1/4 softly puberulent, between veins, glabrous, muriculate, upper lemmas sometimes glabrous throughout, intermediate veins prominent, extending to the scarious margins near the apex, margins glabrous, apices acute; paleas smooth, muriculate or tuberculate, or minutely scabrous over the keels, glabrous. Flowers bisexual; lodicules ca. 0.5 mm long, lanceolate with a latteral lobe; anthers (0.9--) 1.3--1.8 (--2.1) mm long; caryopses 1.2--1.8 mm long, elliptical in side-view, laterally compressed, narrowly trigonous, reddish-brown, sulcus distinctly groved, hilum 0.2 mm long, round, grain adherent to the palea. 2n = 14. Genotype: Vv