Perennial, with downwardly extending long rhizomes and dense, fibrous roots up to 20 cm deep. Culms 20–30 cm tall, ca. 1 mm in diam. Leaf sheaths persistent; leaf blades 10–20 cm × 3–5 mm, glabrous, apex acuminate; ligule ca. 0.5 mm. Panicle 10–12 cm, nearly racemose; branches paired, slender, bearing few spikelets. Spikelets elliptic-lanceolate, ca. 20 × 5–9 mm, purplish brown, florets 5–7; rachilla internodes exposed, 2–3 mm, loosely pubescent; glumes pubescent, apex acute, lower glume linear-lanceolate, 8–9 mm, 1-veined, upper glume 10–12 mm, 3-veined; lemmas long elliptic, 15(–18) × ca. 2 mm in side view, 7-veined, scabrid, margins densely pubescent, awned from apex; awn 3–7 mm, straight; palea ca. 9 mm, keels densely ciliate. Anthers ca. 2 mm. Fl. Jul–Aug, fr. Sep–Oct.

* Alpine areas, rock crevices, cliffs, exposed rocks; 3500–3800 m. Taiwan.