Perennial. Culms tufted, 50–70 cm tall, 3-noded. Leaf sheaths densely pubescent; leaf blades flat, folded or rolled, mainly basal, 7–12 cm, 2–4 mm wide, scabrid or pubescent; ligule truncate, ca. 2 mm, usually lacerate. Panicle narrowly contracted, linear-oblong, 10–17 cm; branches 2 or 3 per node, lowest up to 3.5 cm, erect, scaberulous or pubescent, bearing branchlets and short-pedicelled spikelets to base. Spikelets 0.7–1 cm, greenish or purplish, florets usually 3; rachilla hairs ca. 1 mm; glumes membranous, lower glume (1.5–)4–6 mm, 1-veined, upper glume (3–)5.5–7 mm, 3-veined, apex acuminate-mucronate; lemmas herbaceous with membranous apex, lowest 6–7 mm, 5–7-veined, densely scabrid, sometimes with a few scattered hairs, awned from upper 1/5–1/3, apex 2-toothed, teeth acuminate-aristulate; awn 0.5–1 cm, reflexed from near base, scarcely twisted, terete; palea keels scabrid-ciliolate, hairs ca. 0.1 mm. Anthers 1.4–2 mm. Fl. and fr. Apr–Aug.

This species is otherwise known only from the hills of S India. The awn arises higher on the lemma back than usual and is outwardly curved rather than geniculate. The Indian population has longer lemmas (7–9 mm).

Trisetum lautum Chrtek (Folia Geobot. Phytotax. 25: 333. 1990), described from Yunnan, may be the same as this species. The type has not been seen.

Grassy clearings in forests, riversides, ditches; 2000–3300 m. Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan [S India].