Plants cespitose. Culms 30-60 cm, stiffly erect, wiry, sparsely pubescent to almost glabrous. Cauline blades erect, narrow, often involute. Primary panicles usually contracted; branches appressed to ascending, appearing 1-sided. Spikelets 2-2.8 mm, ellipsoid.

Dichanthelium aciculare subsp. neuranthum grows in moist, sandy, open ground and savannahs, primarily on the outer coastal plain and in Cuba and various other Caribbean islands.