Stout perennial with woody base; culms up to 2 m high. Leaf-blades up to 50 cm long, semicylindrical, 1-3 mm in diameter, rigid, flexuous, long attenuate at the tip. lower lemma lanceolate, ciliate on the margins; upper lemma lanceolate, bifid at the tip with long narrow lobes or shortly 2-toothed, awned in the sinus with an awn 10-30 mm long.