Shivery grass

Glabrous annual to 0.6 m high.

Leaves with sheath loose, smooth and striate; ligule oblong, obtuse, 3–6 mm long; blade 2–10 mm wide, apex attenuate.

Inflorescence broad-obovate, lax, 5–10 cm long. Spikelets ovate to triangular, very obtuse, erect to drooping on slender pedicels, 4–8-flowered. Glumes broadly oblong-obovate, obtuse or abruptly acute, usually pale green but less often purplish. Lemmas closely imbricate, broadly cordate-ovate, 2–3 mm long, tips obtuse, often inflexed. Palea elliptic, 1.5 mm long, finely winged, the wings very minutely ciliolate.