[4] This grass is a rhizomatous perennial with cylindrical stems growing up to 1.2 meters in height.

[2] The relationship between the genera Coelorachis, Mnesithea and Rottboellia varied as of November 2024[update].

A 2015 classification of Poaceae treated Coelorachis as a synonym of Mnesithea,[7] a view supported by a 2020 molecular phylogenetic study.

[1] Alternatively, Plants of the World Online, following Veldkamp et al. in 2013,[9] treated the genus Coelorachis as a synonym of Rottboellia,[10] with this species accepted as Rottboellia campestris.

[2] This grass grows on tallgrass prairies, forest edges, and sometimes roadsides.