Medina is a perennial crystalline bush reaching a height of 60 to 120 cm, with a long creeping rhizome that ensures plant stability and self-support. Stems are usually few in number, sometimes bare, and may be slightly hairy under the nodes. Leaves are flat, 4–9 mm wide, dark green, often hairless or with a light hairy upper surface. Each leaf consists of a leaf blade and closed sheaths with a tongue 1–2 mm long.
In June, Medina opens its inflorescences – panicles up to 20 cm long, consisting of narrowly lanceolate spikelets 12–30 mm long. Each spikelet contains 3 to 12 flowers, each with two floral scales: the lower one is blunt with a wide membranous margin and a purple back, while the upper one is narrower. The flower contains three stamens and two feathery styles; the styles do not accept their own pollen but wait for it from other plants carried by the wind.
Medina's fruit is a dark grey or purple grain 8–12 mm long, fused with the lower floral scale. It ripens in July and germinates in May–June of the following year, with the plant beginning to flower as early as the fourth or fifth year of life. Medina is widely distributed across Russia and maintains its germination capacity for 3–5 years.
