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Elephant grass is a robust, rhizomatous, tufted perennial grass. It has a vigourous root system, developing from the nodes of its creeping stolons. The culms are coarse, perennial, and may be up to 4-7 m in height, branched above. Elephant grass forms dense thick clumps, up to 1 m across. The leaves are flat, linear, hairy at the base, up to 100-120 cm long and 1-5 cm wide, with a bluish-green colour. The leaf margin is finely toothed and the leaf blade has a prominent midrib. The inflorescence is a stiff terminal bristly spike, up to 15-20 cm in length, yellow-brown to purplish in colour. Spikelets are arranged around a hairy axis, and fall at maturity. Spikelets are 4-6 mm long and surrounded by 2 cm long plumose bristles. There is little or no seed formation.