Slender, light green, glabrous perennial, typically developing branched trailing or aerial stolons (sometimes with stems 2 m long or more), occasionally a simple tussock; culms weak and slender. Leaves smooth or very slightly scabrous (rarely with scattered to moderately dense fine hairs, see note below); sheath occasionally red or purplish; blade folded or inrolled-angular, to 20 cm long and 1.5 mm wide (when flattened out), thin-textured, with the nerves becoming prominently raised as the leaves dry; ligule truncate, membranous, 0.3–1.5 mm long. Inflorescence a sparse, pyramidal panicle, commonly c. 8 cm long, 6 cm wide, the branches finally widely spreading. Spikelets 2–4-flowered, 3–5 mm long; glumes subequal, 1.5–2.5 mm long, the lower 1–3-nerved and often slightly shorter, the upper 3-nerved; lemma with 5 distinctly raised nerves, 2–3.5 mm long, uniformly short-pubescent in the lower half to quite glabrous; web weakly developed or absent. Flowers Oct.–Jan.
Wim, GleP, Brid, VVP, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGL, EGU, WPro, HSF, HNF, OtR, Strz, MonT, HFE, VAlp. Also SA, NSW, Tas. Principally confined to moist, shaded forests and scrubby vegetation fringing watercourses, occasionally the stems ascending, supported by other vegetation to a height of 1.5 m or more.