Culms 20-120 cm, glabrous or hispid, with papillose-based hairs. Leaves sparsely to densely hispid throughout, hairs papillose-based; sheaths shorter than the internodes; ligules 2-3 mm; blades 3-20 cm long, 6-13 mm wide, subcordate. Rames (2)7-27 mm. Sessile spikelets 1-1.3 mm; anthers 0.3-0.4 mm. Pedicellate spikelets 1.6-2.2 mm; glumes chartaceous; lower glumes winged on 1 keel; upper glumes with the midvein narrowly winged; anthers 1-1.2 mm. Caryopses 0.7-0.9 mm, elliptic to nearly orbicular in outline, brown to yellow-brown. 2n = 14.

Hackelochloa granularis is a native of the Eastern Hemisphere that has become established in cultivated land, roadsides, and weedy areas of the southern region of the United States. Its range extends south through Mexico and Central and South America. Hitchcock (1951) reported it from New Mexico, but it is not established there (Allred 1993).