Culms 20-70 cm high with 2-3 nodes; panicle very dense, 4-12 cm long, usually purple-tinged but sometimes golden yellow.

Type: Kashmir, Thomson (K) and numerous other syntypes.

Distribution: Pakistan (N.W.F.P., Kashmir & ?Gilgit); western Himalayas.

The two subspecies are not always distinct. A number of specimens named as var. tartarica by Hooker are scarcely different from subsp- pseudophragmites.