Plants annual. Culms to 130 cm, erect, straight or geniculate at the lowest node. Leaves mainly cauline; ligules 2-4 mm, membranous, truncate to rounded. Inflorescences terminal, distichous spikes, with solitary spikelets; internodes 3-5 mm, densely pilose, at least on the edges. Spikelets 10-17 mm, with 2-3 florets, distal floret usually reduced. Glumes 9-12 mm, asymmetrically keeled, keels stronger and sometimes conspicuously ciliate distally, apices retuse to acute, awned, awns 3-4 mm; lemmas 10-15 mm, laterally compressed, keeled, keels sometimes ciliate distally, terminally awned, awns 3-50 mm; anthers 3, yellow. x = 7.

×Triticosecale consists of hybrids between species of Secale and Triticum. Natural hybrids between the two genera are uncommon, even where both genera are native, but artificial hybrids between the two are becoming increasingly important as cereal crops. The cultivars derived from ×Triticosecale often have a complexancestry, involving multiple hybridizations, backcrossings, and artificially induced chromosome doubling. The genetic material in some cultivars is derived almost entirely from Triticum, in others it may come almost entirely from Secale, and in still others fall between these two extremes. Their morphological variability is similar.

No binomial has been published in ×Triticosecale. The cultivars are best treated as such, e.g., ×Triticosecale Newton or ×Triticosecale Bokolo, because their varied and complex ancestry is not adequately reflected by a hybrid formula.