Densely tufted perennial. Culms 30-8(4-100) cm high, erect, slender. Leaf-blades flat, 4-30 cm long, 1-5 mm wide, glaucous, pruinose above; ligule 2-5(-7) mm long. Panicle spiciform, 5-16(-20) cm long, erect, the branches short, paired or solitary, the lower up to 3.5 cm long and with 1-2 spikelets each. Spikelets 3-6(-8)-flowered, narrowly oblong to oblong, 14-28 mm long; glumes lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 3-nerved, hyaline on the margins and at the tip, the lower 10-15 mm long, the upper 12-20 mm long; lemmas subcoriaceous with hyaline margins and tip, the lower 10-17 mm long, 5-nerved, minutely scabrid upwards, slightly bifid at the tip; awn from just above the middle, geniculate, 12-22 mm long.

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

Type: Europe (LINN).

Distribution: Gilgit & Kashmir; Europe and temperate Asia; introduced into parts of India in grass-seed mixtures.

Meadow Oat-grass is common in alpine meadows from about 2700 to 4300 m.