Densely tufted perennial without rhizomes; culms 40-60 cm high, erect or geniculately ascending. Leaf-blades flat or ± involute, 12-20 cm long, 2-3 mm wide, glaucous, scabrid above, smooth beneath. Spike ± lax, 6-13 cm long, erect; rhachis joints scabrid along the margins. Spikelets 3-5-flowered, 10-15 mm long; glumes unequal, oblong, obtuse or truncate, smooth and glabrous, the lower 6-8 mm long, the upper 8-9 mm long; lemma oblong-lanceolate, 8.5-10 mm long, glabrous, apiculate; palea as long as the lemma; anthers 3-4 mm long.

Type: USSR, Ukraine, Steven (LE).

Distribution: Pakistan (N.W.F.P.); Crimea eastwards through southern USSR and the Middle East to Central Asia.