Densely tufted perennial tussock grass; culms erect, 30-160 cm high. Leaves mostly basal; blades mostly 7-40 cm long and 2-5 mm wide, flat, or rolled when dry, coarsely ridged above, scabrid on the ridges and harsh to the touch; ligule scarious, up to 15 mm long. Panicle oblong, 10-30 cm long, loose or rarely ± contracted. Spikelets narrowly oblong, 2-6.5 mm long, 2 (rarely 3)-flowered, green or purple with a golden or silvery sheen; lower glume oblong to narrowly elliptic, acute or obtuse, the upper elliptic, 3-nerved, acute; lemma elliptic-oblong, 3-4.5 mm long, 4-toothed, or 2-lobed with the lobes lacerate, awned from near the base, less often from one-third or even half way up the back; awns mostly straight, capillary, 3-5 mm long, scarcely projecting beyond the glumes.

Fl. & Fr. Per.: July-August.

Type: Europe, Linnaeus (LINN).

Distribution: Pakistan (N.W.F.P. & Kashmir); temperate regions of both hemispheres; mountains of tropical Africa.

Tufted Hair-grass is common on marshy ground at high altitudes (2500-3500 m).