Plants annual, forming tufts. Flowering stems 15–60. Leaf sheaths with the ligule 0.5–1.5 mm long. Leaf blades 2–15 cm long, 1–6 mm wide. Inflorescences 6–25 cm long, the axis glabrous or roughened along the angles. Spikelets 5–18 mm long, with 2–8 florets. Glume 4–20 mm long, 3/4 as long to about as long as the rest of the spikelet, relatively stiff. Lemmas with the body 4–9 mm long, mostly 3.5–5.0 times as long as wide, oblong‑lanceolate to oblong‑oblanceolate in outline, usually sharply to bluntly pointed at the tip, awnless or with an awn 0.5–3.0 mm long. Anthers 1.2–3.0 mm long. Fruits 2.5–5.5 mm long, relatively slender, about 3–5 times as long as wide. 2n=14. June.

Introduced, known only from St. Louis (native of Europe, Asia, and Africa; introduced in temperate and subtropical regions nearly worldwide). Railroads.

Mühlenbach (1979) noted that the specimen that he collected of this species was a “monstrosity” in that most of the inflorescences are highly branched at the base. This probably was due to some sort of developmental damage, either from insects or herbicides.