Tufted perennial; culms often pink. Leaves 20-40cm x 2-4mm, mostly concentrated at the base of the plant, glabrous, curling when old. Inflorescence is a contracted bristly, pale panicle 3-8cm long, but slightly open when young. Spikelets 8-12mm long, with long tapering glumes; central awns 10-17mm, geniculate and pale.