Plants annual. Culms erect, 50–100 cm tall, smooth, glabrous. Leaf sheath usually glabrous; auricles present; ligule 1–2 mm, membranous; leaf blade 9–25 × 0.6–2 cm. Spike hexastichous, dense; rachis flexible. Spikelets all sessile, fertile, and similar. Glumes linear-lanceolate at base, puberulent; awn 8–14 mm. Lemma apex with long awn 8–15 cm or 3-forked appendage. Palea equaling lemma. Caryopsis adherent to or free from lemma and palea. Fl. and fr. Jun–Aug.

Commonly cultivated as a food and fodder plant. Anhui, Fujian, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [cultivated worldwide in all non-tropical countries and in montane areas of tropics].