Tufted annual, culms erect or geniculate, to 50 cm high. Leaf-blades flat, 4–15 cm long and 1.5–4 mm wide, velvety-hairy; sheaths glabrous or velvety with hairs to 0.3 mm long, those of upper leaves inflated; ligules membranous, c. 0.5 mm long; auricles not developed. Spike 1.5–5 cm long (excluding awns), rachis strongly zig-zagged. Glumes of spikelets in each triad subequal, or those of the central spikelet shorter, 10–20 mm long, glumes of the bisexual central spikelet and outer glume of barren lateral spikelets subulate; inner glumes of lateral spikelets prominently winged toward base, c. 1 mm wide; lemma of central spikelet 6–7 mm long, smooth, with a straight terminal awn 10–23 mm long, exceeding glumes; awn and lemma of lateral spikelets less than half as long as those of central spikelet; palea subequal to lemma. Flowers Oct.–Jan.
LoM, MuM, Wim, Brid, VVP, VRiv, MSB, RobP, MuF, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGU, HSF, HNF, Strz. Also naturalised WA, SA, NSW, ACT, Tas. In Victoria, the species occurs near the coast and also on inland sites where soils are somewhat saline. It appears to have increased in range substantially in the past two decades as salination of the Murray irrigation areas has increased.
