Slender, erect annual 2-6 dm with glabrous herbage; blades flat or involute, setaceous, 0.5-1 mm wide; infl slender, 5-20 cm, its branches scaberulous; spikelets 3-6-fld, 3.5-5 mm (excl. awns); first glume subulate, 1.3-2.7 mm, the second broader, 2.3-4 mm; lemmas narrow, ±involute, hairy, especially distally, gradually narrowed into a rough awn 4.5-9 mm; lowest lemma 2.5-3.5 mm; anther 1, ca 0.5 mm; grains 1.5-2 mm. Dry sandy soil; s. N.J. to Tex., chiefly on the coastal plain, n. in the interior to Mo. (V. sciurea; Festuca s.)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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