Plants perennial. Culms to 1.3 m. Leaves folded or convolute in young shoots; auricles glab-rous; ligules to 0.5 mm; blades 10–25 cm long, 2–7 mm wide. Panicles (6)10–25 cm; branches at the lowest node 1 or 2, shorter branch with 1–2(3) spikelets, longer branch with 2–6(9) spikelets. Spikelets (8.5) 12–15.5(17) mm long, 2–5 mm wide, with (2)4–10(12) florets. Lower glumes (2)2.6–4.5 mm; upper glumes 3–5 mm; lemmas 5–8 mm, usually smooth, sometimes slightly scabrous distally, apices unawned, sometimes mucronate, mucros to 0.2 mm; paleas slightly shorter than the lemmas; anthers (1.5)2–4.6 mm. Caryopses3–4 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide. 2n = 14.
Schedonorus pratensis is a Eurasian species that is now widely established in the Flora region. It used to be a popular forage grass in the contiguous United States and southern Canada, but is now rarely planted.