Buffelgrass is a shrubby grass up to 1.5 feet tall and 3 feet wide. It looks like a bunchgrass when small. Older plants branch profusely and densely at nodes, giving mature plants a messy appearance. These nodal branches produce new leaves and flower spikes very quickly after light rains, making buffelgrass an extremely prolific seed producer. Inflorescences are 1.5-5 inches long, fat brown to purplish when fresh or occasionally straw-colored. The spikes are crowded with dense bristly fruit which are actually burs without hardened spines.