Plants annual. Culms 6-27 cm. Ligules 0.3-1.1 mm, of hairs;blades 3-15 cm long, 0.3-1.5 mm wide, abaxial surfaces glabrous or scabrous, adaxial surfaces scabrous, sparsely long-pubescent near the ligules. Panicles 1-6(7.5) cm. Spikelets 4.5-7 mm. Lower glumes 4-5.2 mm, exceeded by the distal florets; upper glumes 4-5.3 mm; lemmas 1.5-2(2.5) mm, with sparse, appressed pubescence between the veins, or glabrous and with spreading hairs on the margins, lobes as wide as or wider than long, acute to obtuse; paleas 1.7-2.2(2.6) mm, those of the lower florets in the spikelets as long as or longer than the lemmas; anthers 0.2-0.4 mm. Caryopses 0.6-0.8 mm. 2n = 12.
Schismus barbatus is native to Eurasia, but it is now established in the southwestern United States. It grows in sandy, disturbed sites along roadsides and fields and in dry riverbeds.