Culms tufted, stiffly erect, up to 110 cm tall. Leaf sheaths usually glabrous; leaf blades lanceolate, 15–20 × 3–5 cm, base rounded to a pseudopetiole; ligule very small. Inflorescence 15–25 cm, racemes few, distant, up to 5 cm, closely spiculate with subsessile imbricate spikelets. Spikelets obliquely ovate, flattened, 7–10 mm; glumes broadly ovate, weakly keeled, 5(–7)-veined; lower glume ca. 4 mm; upper glume ca. 5 mm; lemma of fertile floret broadly ovate with gibbous back, keeled, ca. 6 mm, palea shorter than lemma; awn of fertile and sterile lemmas ca. 1 mm. Fl. and fr. Aug–Oct. 2n = 48*.

This species is very similar to Lophatherum gracile vegetatively, but has different spikelets.

Shady hillsides by streams. Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang [Japan, S Korea].