Leaf blades are flat, usually smooth, but occasionally hairy, 1/2 to 1-1/2 wide, and 15 to 30 inches long. Leaf sheaths are usually densely hairy. Ligule is membranous with a margin fringed with fine hairs.
Stem is are erect, 2 to 10 feet tall, extremely variable, sometimes bending and rooting at the nodes, smooth to extremely hairy, branched or unbranched.
Flowers or seed heads are 6 to 24 inches long with widely spreading branches. Flowers are somewhat blunt at the tip, and the seeds are minutely wrinkled![](/media/erecifasufledu/guineagrass-flower-507x338.jpg)
Roots are deep, dense, and fibrous.
Propagation is usually by seed, but occasionally by aboveground runners.