Nardus ciliaris Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 53. 1753; Eremochloa leersioides (Munro) Hackel; Ischaemum leersioides Munro.

Perennial, densely tufted. Culms erect, slender, 20–60 cm tall, usually pubescent. Leaves crowded at base of culm, overlapping; leaf sheaths keeled, glabrous or pubescent; leaf blades folded, 3–15 × 0.1–0.4 cm, glabrous or pubescent, apex acute; ligule 0.5–1 mm. Raceme falcately curved, 2–5 cm; rachis internodes narrowly oblong, slightly expanded upward, puberulous to thinly hirsute, 1.8–2.5 mm. Sessile spikelet 3.5–4 mm; lower glume oblong-ovate, firmly papery, pubescent on back or subglabrous, 7-veined, marginal spines longer than glume width, longest 1.5–5 mm, apex abruptly acute, usually wingless. Pedicelled spikelet absent; pedicel narrowly ellipsoid, ending in short point. Fl. and fr. Jul–Oct.

Dry grassy hillsides, meadows on sandy soils, roadsides; 300–2000 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan [Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam; Australia (N Queensland)].