Culms to 40 cm high. Leaves glabrous, minutely scabrous along nerves; blade inrolled, to 8 cm long and 0.5 mm wide; ligule toothed at apex, to 5 mm long. Panicle initially contracted with erect branches, finally sparse with spreading branches, to 15 cm long and 12 cm wide. Spikelets (1.5–)2(–2.5) mm long, with pedicels mostly 5–8 mm; glumes equal, acute; lemmas (excluding membranous apical lobes) about two-thirds as long as glumes, glabrous except for short callus hairs, minutely scabrous; awn usually absent from lower floret, upper floret with awn inserted about one-third from base, 2–3 mm long. Flowers Sep.–Dec.