Rhizomatous perennial without stolons; culms 40-120(-150) cm high, erect or geniculately ascending, rooting and branching from the lower nodes, smooth. Leaf-blades 5-20 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, flat, scabrid; ligule 1.5-6 mm long, blunt. Panicle oblong to ovate, 8-25 cm long, loose and open, the branches clustered, spreading, divided above the naked base; inflated tip of pedicel scabrid. Spikelets 2-3 mm long, breaking up at maturity above the persistent glumes; glumes acute, awnless, rough on the keel; lemma 1.5-2.5 mm long, very blunt, usually awnless, rarely with a short awn from near the tip; palea half to two-thirds the length of the lemma; anthers 1-1.5 mm long.

Fl. & Fr. Per.: July-August.

Type locality: Germany.

Distribution: Pakistan (Punjab, N.W.FY., Gilgit & Kashmir); Europe and temper-ate Asia; introduced in North America etc.

Very similar to Agrostis stolonifera but distinguished by its rhizomes and lack of stolons and a panicle that remains loose and open after anthesis. It is a more aggressive species than Agrostis stolonifera and can become a troublesome weed. Male-sterile hybrids between the two species are known.

1500-3000 m.