Densely tufted dioecious perennial without rhizomes; culms 25-85 cm high, erect or ascending, slender. Leaf-blades flat or loosely rolled, prominently ribbed above, up to 40cm long, 2-3(-4.5)mm wide; ligule up to 1mm long, without auricles. Panicle ovate to lanceolate, (4-)6-14cm long, loose or ± contracted, the branches smooth or scabrid. Spikelets 4-6-flowered, 9-12mm long; glumes entirely hyaline except for a narrow, thicker band along the nerve, the lower 4-4.6mm long, the upper 4.2-6mm long; lemmas narrowly oblong to lanceolate-oblong in side-view, (6-)6.5-8.5mm long, minutely asperulous on the back, broadly hyaline on the margins and at the blunt, often lacerate tip, awnless; palea scabrid along the keels. Male florets: anthers 2.75-4mm long; ovary aborted. Female florets: ovary densely hairy at the tip; anthers aborted.

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

Type: Alai, Fedtschenko (LE).

Distribution: Pakistan (N.W.F.P., Gilgit & Kashmir); Afghanistan, through the mountains of Central Asia to Tibet and the Himalayas.

3700 -5700m.