A short-lived or long-lived tufted grass with upright stems growing up to 70 cm tall. The stems and leaves are tough and difficult to cut. The long and narrow leaf blades (up to 30 long and 3 mm wide) are mostly hairless. Its seed-heads (5-30 cm long) have many fine spreading branches that bear numerous small flower spikelets. These dark green or greyish-green flower spikelets (4-16 mm long and 1-3 mm wide) have 4-16 tiny flowers they become saw-toothed in appearance as they mature and contain tiny brown or reddish-brown seeds.