Tufted perennial without rhizomes; culms 30-90 cm high, erect or spreading, slender to moderately stout, hairy at and towards the nodes, otherwise smooth and glabrous. Leaf-blades up to 35 cm long, 4-12 mm wide, mostly loosely hairy, rarely hairless and rough; sheaths loosely hairy with spreading or reflexed hairs, or the upper smooth, rarely all hairless. Inflorescence 6-20 cm long, bearing 4-12 spikelets. Spikelets 2-4 cm long, cylindrical, narrowly oblong or lanceolate, 8-16-flowered, glumes lanceolate or the upper narrowly oblong, sharply pointed or the upper very shortly awned, usually hairy, the lower 6-8 mm long, 5-7-nerved, the upper 8-11 mm long, 7-9-nerved; lemmas oblong-lanceolate, 7-11 mm long, shortly and stiffly hairy, rarely only rough or quite smooth, acute, tipped by an awn up to 12 mm long; anthers 3.5-4 mm long.

Fl. & Fr. Per.: (April-) June-September.

Type: British Isles, Hudson.

Distribution: Pakistan (Punjab, N.W.F.P., Gilgit & Kashmir); Europe and temperate Asia and the mountains of tropical Asia.

Wood False-Brome is a species of no value agriculturally and is generally considered undesirable in grassland.

Tor Grass, Brachypodium pinnatum (Linn.) P. Beauv., differs from Brachypodium sylvaticum by having a shorter awn shorter than the lemma, glabrous sheaths and culms and a rhizomatous habit. Although it is reported from Pakistan (R.R. Stewart 8732 det. Swallen in Stewart, Ann. Cat. Vasc. Pl. W. Pak. 138) this is probably an error as the species is otherwise unknown east of Iran. The Stewart specimen in question, which incidentally is at Kew despite Stewart's statement in his catalogue, although having short-awned glabrous spikelets is tufted and has hairy sheaths and leaves; it is thus better regarded as a form of Brachypodium sylvaticum.