Tufted perennial. Culms erect to 180 cm high; nodes mostly glabrous. Leaf-blades flat, to 60 cm long and 10(–20) mm wide, glabrous and virtually smooth; sheaths glabrous or ciliate, those of the basal leaves hirsute; ligules papery, obtuse, 3–9 mm long, subtended by silky hairs. Panicle 12–30 cm long, of 12–20 erect, semi-appressed racemes, the lower racemes to 12 cm long. Spikelets purplish to pale green, elliptic, acute, 1.6–2.8 mm long, paired, in four rows; lower glume not developed; upper glume 3–5-nerved, as long as spikelet, densely ciliate on the margin, with rather long silky hairs, sparsely pubescent on the body; lower lemma 3-nerved, equal to upper glume, with hairs confined to the margin; fertile lemma rounded apically, slightly shorter than spikelet, almost flat, firm, pale, very finely striate, slightly granular. Flowers Mar.–June.
Wim, VVP, MuF, GipP, WaP, NIS, EGL, HSF. Naturalised in all States except ACT. Native to South America. Known in Victoria from a few scattered collections. e.g. Heywood in the south-west, Kensington near Melbourne, Cranbourne, Gippsland (Maffra and Cann River areas), and Walwa in the far north-east. The first 2 of these are from the vicinity of railyards indicating likely introduction with stock or grain from interstate.
