[3] It can be recognized after seed dispersal by the wiry, wavy inflorescence stalks (flexuose) that continue to stick out of the clump of leaf blades.

[4][9] Hilaria rigida is a long-lived, shrubby or bushy, clumping perennial grass producing coarse, erect stems reaching 1 m (3.3 ft) in maximum height.

[4][5][6] It spreads from hard, woody rhizomes to form grayish, hairy, open, erect hummocks and clumps.

[9] Seeds fall when mature, but their stalks persist, sticking out from the clumps like zigzagging wires, by which the plant can be identified at a distance.

[5][7] Leaf blades are coarse and firm, fairly wide, and almost straight, from grayish to blue-green, sometimes with light wooly fuzz, and have curly hairs and edges that are rolled upward.

[9] The inflorescence is a series of hairy or brush-like rectangular[citation needed] spikelets, occur in clusters of three,[7] between 2 and 3 in (5.1 and 7.6 cm).

[8] The inflorescence stalk persists after the seeds drop, sticking out of the clump of leaf blades like stiff, wavy wires.

[9] The hummocky, clumpy form of the grass helps it stabilize loose and blowing sand when it grows in desert dune habitat.

[9] Associated plant species include Larrea tridentata (creosote bush), Ambrosia dumosa (white bursage), Coleogyne ramosissima (blackbrush), Yucca brevifolia (joshua trees), Yucca species, Krameria erecta (range ratany), Krascheninnikovia (winterfat), Encelia farinosa (brittle bush), Ephedra species, Lycium andersonii (wolfberry), and Sphaeralcea (globemallow).

[9] Big galleta is heavily grazed[7] and is valuable as a fair to good forage crop for sheep and cattle.

[6] It resprouts after grazing followed by rains,[citation needed] and coarseness and clumping help protect it from trampling.