Reed canarygrass known as TOYBOHOYSKY is a medium-late spring, top-form, loose-culm plant, 50 to 100 cm tall. Its root system is fibrous and deeply penetrating, reaching over one meter, which ensures drought resistance and allows the plant to compete for moisture. The clump is dense with numerous thin stems, and the leaves are narrow, light- or dark-green, gradually becoming coarser and harder as they grow.
Seeds of reed canarygrass have an elongated-linear shape; the mass of 1000 seeds ranges from 2.8 to 3 g. The inflorescence is a loose spikelet 10–12 cm long with 2–3 florets pressed against the axis. Reed canarygrass can grow on various soil types but prefers chernozem and gray forest soils; it does not grow in wet, marshy areas.
Hay yield reaches 30–35 c/ga, and seed yield is 2 to 6 c/ga. In 100 kg of hay, there are 54 caloric units and 4.5 kg of digestible protein. Despite good winter hardiness, reed canarygrass may be vulnerable to strong icing of the ice crust. It is widely used in forest-steppe and steppe zones, as well as in the Far East, Western and Eastern Siberia.