Culms few-several in loose tufts, erect or ascending, 2-5 dm, glabrous; sheaths loose, often exceeding the internodes, glabrous to pilose or papillose-pilose; blades yellowish-green, erect or nearly so, the larger 10-15 cm נ10-20 mm, often 10+ times as long as wide, glabrous on both sides, slightly narrowed to the rounded, papillose-ciliate base; primary panicle 5-10 cm, very narrow, with erect or narrowly ascending branches; spikelets few, seldom more than 40, minutely puberulent, obovoid, 3.3-3.8 mm; first glume half as long (1.6-2.1 mm) or a little more, triangular- ovate, acute; second glume slightly shorter than the sterile lemma and fr; autumnal phase with 1 or 2 erect branches, bearing scarcely reduced blades equaling or exceeding the reduced panicles; 2n=36. Dry sandy soil; Que. and Me. to Man., s. to N.J., Pa., W.Va., Mich., and Minn. (Dichanthelium x.)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.