Rhizomatous perennial; stems much branched above, wiry, 4-30 cm tall, usually growing in isolated clumps and seldom forming dense stands; blades short, less than 3 cm long, strongly involute; inflorescence a narrow contracted panicle, 1-5 cm long, usually extending out of the upper leaf sheath; spikelets 1.8-2.5 mm long; glumes about half as long as the spikelet, 1-nerved; lemma about as long as the spikelet, densely villous near the base and along the 3 nerves, awnless or with a tiny awn-tip. Flowers August to September.