Perennial; basal sheaths persistent, glabrous to tomentose. Culms tufted, erect, 50–60 cm tall, unbranched. Leaf sheaths glabrous or pilose; leaf blades erect, stiff, 5–35 × 0.3–0.9 cm, pubescent to glabrous, margins scabrid, acuminate; ligule scarious, ca. 1 mm. Raceme 1(–2) on a long stiff peduncle, 2–3 cm, greenish, narrowly capitulate. Sessile spikelets 4, involucrelike, 1.3–2.2 cm, 2 florets present; lower glume oblong, leathery, smooth, glabrous or sparsely pilose, apex retuse to obliquely 2-toothed; upper glume puberulous, apex rounded to truncate; lemmas and paleas reddish brown, subhyaline; stamens 2 in each floret; anthers 6–8 mm. Pedicelled spikelets 3, dark brown; pedicel 5–7 mm; callus stiffly bearded, hairs brown; lower glume narrowly lanceolate-oblong, leathery, puberulous; awn 2-geniculate, stout, 6–9.5 cm, column hispidulous, limb shorter than column, puberulous. Fl. and fr. autumn.

The elongate involucres of hard sessile spikelets, tipping the culms after the long-awned pedicellate spikelets have fallen, are an unmistakable feature of this grass.

Dry hillsides; 800–1000 m. Guangdong, Yunnan (Lingchuan) [Indonesia, New Guinea, Thailand, Vietnam; Australia].