Culms erect or geniculate at base, (13–)50–70 cm tall. Leaf sheath puberulent at base; leaf blade flat, 6–8 × 0.3–0.5 cm, abaxial surface scabrous or smooth, adaxial surface pilose. Spike pendulous, flexuose, somewhat dense, 5–12 cm; rachis margin scabrous, ciliolate. Spikelets usually 2 per node (at least at middle nodes), subsessile or very shortly pedicellate, green, purplish when mature, 9–15 mm, with 2(or 3) glumes and 2–4 florets. Glumes oblong, subequal, 4–5 mm, 3- or 4(or 5)-veined, scabrous along veins, apex with awn 1–4 mm. Lemma narrowly lanceolate, puberulent; first lemma (6–)10 mm; awn (3–) 12–20 mm, divergently scabrous. Palea equaling lemma, ciliate along keels, puberulent between keels. Fl. and fr. Jul–Aug.

Mountain slopes, grasslands, riverside sands and pebbles; 2800–3400 m. Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal; C and SW Asia].