Plants relatively slender, sometimes robust, not compact. Stems usually glabrous, sometimes slightly hirsute in lines distally. Leaf blades linear-lanceolate, 10+ times as long as wide, bases subclasping. 2n = 48.

Flowering Aug-Oct. Saltmarshes, savannas, pine barrens; 0 m; N.B.; Conn., Maine, Md., Mass., N.J., N.Y., N.C., R.I., S.C., Va.

Variety elodes is found mostly along the seashores of the Atlantic coast. More study is needed to determine the relationship of this taxon to var. novibelgii and the exact extent of its range to the north.