Tufted perennial, culms strongly erect, to 100 cm high. Leaves scabrous, rather strongly ribbed; blade mostly closely inrolled, to 45 cm long and 1.5 mm diam., rigidly erect and more or less needle-pointed; ligule papery, acute, soon disintegrating, 4–11 mm long. Inflorescence a contracted, almost spike-like panicle, sometimes interrupted and/or narrowly lobed near the base, 10–30 cm long. Spikelets narrow, 4–5 mm long, purplish, maturing to straw-coloured; glumes equal, acuminate, sometimes shortly mucronate, scabrous along the keel; lemma subequal to glumes, rather prominently 5–7-nerved, smooth or sparsely and minutely scabrous, hyaline toward the narrowly truncate or erose apex, awnless or awned from just below the apex; awn (when present) fine, straight, to c. 0.5 mm long, not exceeding lemma and remaining more or less appressed to it; callus hairs c. 1 mm long; rachilla bristle c. 0.3 mm long, glabrous or with a short terminal hair-tuft; anthers c. 2 mm long. Flowers Dec.–Jan.
