Tufted perennial; basal sheaths woolly tomentose with whitish hairs; culms 45-90 cm high. Leaf-blades mostly basal, up to 60 cm long, 2-3 mm wide, glabrous, sometimes villous towards the base, hairy at the mouth of the sheath, rigid, suberect, folded or convolute. Racemes 2-4 cm long, rufously hairy. Spikelets narrowly elliptic-oblong, 3.5-4.5 mm long; lower glume rufously hairy on the margins and with tufts of hair in the middle across the back; upper glume similarly hairy on the margins and with a single tuft in the middle on the back; lower floret male with well-developed lemma and palea; upper lemma with an awn 6-9 mm long.

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

Type: India, Koenig..

Distribution: Pakistan (Baluchistan, Punjab, N.W.F.P. & Kashmir); Afghanistan eastwards to Burma and Thailand; China; Philippines.

Eulaliopsis binata is widely collected for paper-making, strings, ropes and mats. It frequents hot dry areas and its extensive underground root-system enables it to survive forest fires. It is not eaten by cattle except in times of hardship.