Tufted with short rhizomes, erect, 2-6 dm; lvs stiff, erect, usually folded, 1-2 mm wide; ligule 1.5-4 mm; infl compact, 3-12 cm, 3-4 times as long as wide; spikelets 5-9 mm, 4-7-fld; first glume 2-4 mm, the second 2.6-4.4 mm; lemmas hairy, often densely so, on and between the veins toward the base, but not webbed; lowest lemma 2.4-4.3 mm; anthers 1.2-2 mm; 2n=63-103. Dry to moist prairies; w. Minn. and nw. Io. to Mont., Utah, and Ariz. (P. pratensiformis)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
