Loosely tufted perennial with short knotty rhizome. Culms erect 30-100 tall, clothed at base with few cataphlls. Blades lance-elliptic, 4-15 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, apex attenuate, base petiole-like, tessellate veined; ligule 1.5 mm long, apex rounded; sheath margin ciliate. Panicle large, 20 cm long; pedicels hispid. Spikelets 3-7-flowered, 4-8 mm long; glumes subcoriaceous, elliptic, apex cuspidate, weakly (3)-5-nerved; lowes floret 4 mm long; lemmas 3.5-4 mm long, subcoriaceous, 7-nerved, apex cuspidate; palea 2.8 mm long, 2-keeled, apex acute, hispid on the upper part of keel; upper lemmas slightly smaller than the lowest, glandular hairy along the upper margin, the hairs retrorsely hispid when mature. Caryopsis 1 mm long.

TAINAN: San-chiao-lan-shan, Kuoh . KAOHSIUNG: Suba-lohan-shan, Kuoh PINGTUNG: Bankinsing, Henry 417 (holotype of Centotheca lappacea var. inermis Rendle , K). TAITUNG: Orchid Island, Landou, Moo 2389.

tropical Africa, India, Indo-China, Malaysia, Polynesia, and southeastern China.