It is clump-forming grass that can grow up to 1.7 m (5 ft 6.9 in) meters tall, with alternate spaced leaves.

[3] It is native to the African countries of Angola, Botswana, Burkina, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia (and Caprivi Strip), Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa (within the Cape Provinces, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Provinces), Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre and Zimbabwe.

[3] It is found at an altitude of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level, in semi-arid climates, in grassland and savanna woodland.

[6] The seed of Urochloa trichopus can be gathered for food, such as in Kordofan (Sudan), Tanzania, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

While, in Botswana it is ground into a flour, which can then be as a cereal, which can be mixed with water, milk or melon juice and made into cake.