Annual, up to over 2 ft. high, loosely tufted. Culms geniculately ascending or decumbent and rooting at the base, more rarely erect, slender, terete or somewhat compressed towards the base, few- to about 8-noded, branched, rarely quite simple, lower internodes often arching and bared by the slipping off of the sheaths, usually rather short, the uppermost at length long-exserted and much the longest, all softly hairy at least upwards. Leaf-sheaths striate, lower loose, upper somewhat tight, more or less softly hairy to subtomentose or villous, hairs fine, spreading, often rather long, nodes villosulous; ligules a dense fringe of short hairs; blades lanceolate-linear to linear from a slightly and shortly contracted base, tapering to a callous acute or subacute point, 1 1/2–4 in. by 2 1/2–4 lin., flat, somewhat succulent and rigid or subflaccid when long, drying yellowish-green, softly pubescent to tomentose or velvety on both sides, with some long and fine hairs here and there, margins finely cartilaginous, very scabrid, nerves very inconspicuous, primary laterals about 3–4 on each side, distinguishable only below, if at all. Inflorescence secund or subsecund, 1 1/2–4 in. long of 3–8 stiff suberect or spreading sessile or subsessile spiciform racemes; all the axes very angular, very scabrid along the angles and frequently pubescent, the common axis often channelled adaxillarily. Racemes 3/4–1 1/2 in. long, gradually decreasing upwards, 2-seriate, simple, rather dense or the lowest sometimes looser and interrupted towards the base; rhachis triquetrous, 1/4 lin. wide, flat or subconvex on the back, straight or very slightly wavy, more or less irregularly ciliate with white hairs, internodes 1/2– 3/4 lin. long; pedicels solitary and very short, very rarely 2-nate and then the longer up to 2 lin. long, with fine long hairs near the tips which are not discoid. Spikelets contiguous to subimbricate, ovate to oblong-elliptic in outline, shortly cuspidate to rostrate-acuminate, somewhat turgid, 1 1/2 to over 2 lin. long, pale green, hairy, rarely glabrous. Glumes very unequal; lower broad-ovate, shortly acute or acuminate, clasping, half the length of the spikelet, thinly membranous, 7-nerved, nerves anastomosing upwards, prominulous: upper corresponding in outline and size to the spikelet, rather thin below, whitish, 5-nerved, with the nerves converging and passing into a solid cusp or mucro, reticulately cross-veined towards the tip, usually finely and sparingly pubescent below, more densely so upwards where the hairs are at the same time longer and more white, rarely quite glabrous. Lower floret neuter: valve very similar to the upper glume, slightly flattened or depressed on the back; valvule oblong, acute or subobtuse, thin, with marginate keels, almost as long as the valve or more or less reduced; lodicules 0. Upper floret hermaphrodite, elliptic-oblong, apiculate to submucronulate, very convex on the back, almost as long as the spikelet, pale straw-coloured; valve and valvule crustaceous, very delicately pitted, glossy, flaps of the latter wide, touching downwards. Anthers orange-coloured, over 1/2 to almost 3/4 lin. long. Stigmas blackish-purple, conspicuous, exserted below the tip of the spikelet. Grain (not quite mature) subellipsoid, dorsally slightly compressed, greenish; scutellum panduriform, half the length of the grain; hilum narrowly oblong.