Loosely tufted perennial; culms 85-130 cm high, stout. Leaf-blades flat, up to 30 cm long, 5-7 mm wide, scaberulous on the upper surface, scabrid beneath. Panicle lax, 15-30 cm long, the branches spreading or ascending, the longest about half the length of the panicle. Spikelets lanceolate, 6.5-9 mm long; lemma lanceolate, 5-6.5 mm long, acute at the tip, covered (except at the tip) with dense hairs about 03 mm long; awn 8-11 mm long, long-exserted from the glumes, terminal, deciduous or subpersistent; anthers 3.5-4 mm long, their tips bearded.

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

Type: India, Gamble 15143 (K, Z).

Distribution: Pakistan (N.W.F.P. & Kashmir); eastern Afghanistan, along the Himalayas to China.

In juniper tracts and coniferous forests between 1300 and 3300 m. Var. fasciculatum differs from var. aequiglume by its fascicled spikelets and glumes distinctly longer than the lemma. In view of the latter character, care should be taken not to confuse it with Piptatherum munroi.