Plants annual, forming tufts. Flowering stems 30–120 cm long, erect, sometimes from spreading bases, glabrous. Leaf sheaths rounded on the back, glabrous or less commonly somewhat roughened, the ligule 1.5–5.0 mm long, the margin somewhat uneven and minutely hairy. Leaf blades 8–25 cm long, 3–10(–15) mm wide, flat, glabrous, roughened, or hairy. Inflorescences 10–30 cm long, open panicles with loosely ascending to spreading branches at maturity, erect or more commonly arched to somewhat nodding, the main axis usually somewhat roughened. Spikelets 17–26 mm long (excluding the awns, if present), nodding, slightly flattened laterally, disarticulating above the glumes or not readily disarticulating, with 2 or 3 perfect florets. Glumes 17–26 mm long, longer than the rest of the spikelet (excluding the awns), similar in size and shape, the upper glume slightly longer and wider than the lower glume, narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, sharply pointed at the tip, strongly 7‑ or 9‑nerved, rounded on the back, awnless, glabrous. Lemmas 14–23 mm long, elliptic‑lanceolate, tapered to 2 narrow teeth (notched) at the tip, 5‑ or 7‑nerved, keeled, glabrous, roughened, or hairy, the base glabrous or with a tuft of hairs 3–5 mm long, awnless or with an awn 15–45 mm long attached above or near the midpoint of the midnerve, this twisted or bent below the middle or less commonly straight to somewhat curved. Palea somewhat shorter than the lemmas, membranous, 2‑nerved. Stamens 3, the anthers 1.5–4.5 mm long. Fruits 7–12 mm long, narrowly elliptic‑oblanceolate in outline, tan to yellowish brown, hairy. 2n=42. May–November.

Introduced, widely scattered nearly throughout Missouri (native of Europe, Asia, introduced sporadically nearly worldwide in temperate regions). Roadsides, railroads, fallow fields, crop fields, gardens, and open, disturbed areas.