Plants erect. Leaves conspicuously basal; blades to 15 cm long, 3-10 mm wide, recurved, hirsute, usually with long stiff hairs and short soft hairs, grayish-green, margins ciliate, with long stiff hairs. Panicle branches 2-11.2 cm; branch axes 0.3-0.9 mm wide. Spikelets 1.4-1.9 mm long, 1.1-1.6 mm wide, elliptic, obovate, orbicular, or suborbicular, short pubescent to nearly glabrous, often purple-spotted; lower lemmas without an evident midvein; upper lemmas 1.3-2 mm.
Paspalum setaceum var. villosissimum grows in sandy fields and flatwoods of Florida and Cuba. It resembles var. longepedunculatum, differing in its pubescent leaves, more robust habit, and more developed rhizomes.