Plants perennial; cespitose, not rhizomatous or stoloniferous. Culms (5–)10–40 cm, erect, with 2–4 nodes. Leaves mostly basal or basal and cauline, basal leaves persistent; sheaths smooth or scabrous; ligules 0.7–3.3 mm, scabridulous or smooth, usually rounded, sometimes acute or truncate, erose, sometimes lacerate; blades 2.5–13 cm long, 0.5–3 mm wide, usually flat, occasionally involute or folded. Panicles (2–)3–10 cm long, (0.5–)1.5–5 cm wide, widely ovate to lanceolate, usually open, exserted from the upper sheaths at maturity, lowest node with (1–)2–5 branches; branches erect, not capillary, readily visible, smooth or sparsely scabridulous, branched above midlength, spikelets in the distal 1/2 or beyond, lower branches (1.5–)2–4 cm; pedicels 0.4–6.4 mm. Spikelets lanceolate to narrowly ovate, dark brown or purplish. Glumes subequal, 2–4 mm, elliptical to lanceolate, midveins scabrous to scabridulous, at least distally, 1-veined, acute; callus hairs to 0.4 mm, sparse; lemmas 1.6–2.6 mm, smooth or scabridulous, translucent to opaque, 5-veined, veins prominent to obscure, apices acute, entire or erose, awned from just below midlength, awns (2–)3–4.4 mm, geniculate, exserted, persistent; paleas absent, or to 0.1 mm and thin; anthers 3, 0.5–0.8 mm, usually shed at anthesis. Caryopses 1.4–2 mm; endosperm solid. 2n = 56 [reports of 2n = 42 are for Agrostis scabra].