This is an infrequent grass in our northern counties. It is strictly a dense woodland species, and is usually found on black and white oak ridges, sometimes in moist locations.

Culms slender, usually weak, 3-10 dm, without rhizomes; sheaths glabrous or nearly so; blades soft, 2-5 mm wide; ligule (2-)2.5-4 mm; infl loose, ±nodding, 5-10 cm, the slender branches bearing a few spikelets beyond the middle, the lower branches usually paired, seldom solitary or in 3's; spikelets ovate, 3-4 mm, 2-4-fld; glumes acute, the first lanceolate to ovate, 1.7-2.6 mm, the second broadly lanceolate to ovate or elliptic, 2.1-2.9 mm; lemmas firm, obscurely veined, oblong, 2.4-3.2 mm, glabrous except the webbed base, obtuse and somewhat cucullate at the tip; anthers 0.7-1 mm. Dry or rocky woods; Mass. to Minn., s. to Pa., Ky., and Io.

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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