This species, as I know it, is a deep woodland grass found in slightly acid soil in low beech and sweet gum, pin oak, and red maple woods. All of our specimens are from southern Indiana, although it is reported to occur in Michigan.

Culms in large loose tufts, 3-6 dm, without rhizomes, the soft blades crowded near the base, 2-3 mm wide, the cauline ones narrower and short; infl 6-15 cm, very loose and open, the elongate, capillary branches single or paired, widely spreading, bearing a few distal spikelets; spikelets 4-6-fld, the rachilla joints 1-1.3 mm, glabrous; first glume lanceolate, 1.8-2.8 mm, 1-veined, the second ovate or elliptic, 2.2-3.7 mm, 3-veined; lemmas oblong, 3.2-4.4 mm, usually distinctly 5-veined, short-hairy on the keel and marginal veins at least below the middle, usually also on the intermediate veins and interveinal areas near the base, scarious at the broadly rounded or subtruncate tip, not webbed; anthers ca 1 mm; 2n=28. Moist woods; N.J. to Mich. and Ill., s. to Fla. and Tex.

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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