Annual. Culms robust, 20–150 cm tall, glabrous or lower nodes and internodes pubescent or hispid. Leaves cauline; leaf sheaths hispid; leaf blades linear or narrowly lanceolate, 15–40 × 1–2.5 cm, glabrous to pilose or hispid, base cordate to amplexicaul, apex finely tapering; ligule 1.5–3 mm, a fringe of hairs from a membranous base. Panicle oblong to ovate in outline, 15–35 cm, drooping at maturity with the weight of the dense spikelets which are clustered toward the ends of the branches. Spikelets ovate to ovate-oblong, 4–5 mm, glabrous, acute to acuminate; lower glume ovate, 1/2–3/4 length of spikelet, 5-veined, acute or acuminate, separated by a short internode; upper glume equal to spikelet, 9–13-veined, acute or acuminate; lower floret barren, lemma similar to upper glume, palea reduced or absent; upper floret orange or yellow, smooth, shiny, usually persistent. Fl. and fr. Jul–Oct. 2n = 36, 40.

Commonly cultivated, especially in mountainous regions [cultivated in Bhutan, India, Japan, and widely elsewhere].