DESCRIBE syntax (Get information about columns)
{DESCRIBE | DESC} tbl_name {col_name | wild}
DESCRIBE provides information about a table's columns. col_name may be a column name or a string containing the SQL `%' and `_' wildcard characters.
If the column types are different than you expect them to be based on a CREATE TABLE statement, note that MySQL sometimes changes column types. See section 7.7.1 Silent column specification changes.
This statement is provided for Oracle compatibility.
The SHOW statement provides similar information. See section 7.23 SHOW syntax (Get information about tables, columns,...).