Culms stout, tufted, 6-12 dm, compressed; lower blades 3-5 mm wide, their sheaths densely villous, especially toward the summit; spathes narrowly boat-shaped, inflated, 3-6(-10) cm; peduncles short (2-3 cm), mostly included, or the terminal ones longer and exsert; racemes 2-4 on the peduncle, 3-4 cm, the rachis densely tawny-villous; sessile spikelet 4.5-5.5 mm, about equaling the sterile pedicel and much longer than the internode next above it; awn 12-20 mm, straight or nearly so. Wet sandy soil on the coastal plain; se. Va. to La.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.