Densely tufted perennial 3-10 dm; lvs mostly at or near the base; ligules 1-2.5 mm; blades usually involute, 1-2 mm wide; infl loose and open, somewhat nodding, to 15 cm, the lowest branches in fascicles of 2-5; spikelets purplish or silvery, 4.3-6 mm, the first glume 3-4.5 mm, the second acuminate, 3.6-5.3 mm; rachilla prolonged less than one-fourth the length of the upper floret; lemmas scabrous, truncate and minutely toothed; awn arising near the base, geniculate below the middle, the distal half somewhat divergent, surpassing the lemma by 1-3 mm; palea not bifid; rachilla prolonged less than one-fourth the length of the upper floret; anthers linear, 2-3 mm; 2n=26, 28, 56. Dry woods, fields, and sandhills; circumboreal, s. to Ga., O., Wis., and Minn.; Ark. and Okla.; Mex.

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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