Annual 1–5 dm, the culms densely cespitose, repeatedly branched; lvs 1–4 mm wide; middle sheaths mostly longer than their internodes; infl 5–20 cm, ellipsoid, rather compactly branched, the middle branches the longest, the lower ones solitary or rarely paired; pedicels spreading; spikelets 3–6(–9)-fld, 1–2.5 mm wide; first glume 1–1.5 mm, three-fourths to one and one-fourth times as long as the lowest lemma; lemmas 1.1–1.6 mm, individually deciduous from the rachilla, on which the paleas persist; grain 0.5–0.7 mm, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, somewhat compressed, sometimes shallowly indented on one side; 2n=40, 80. Riverbanks, sand-bars, and moist ground; Mass., Vt. and s. Que. to Minn., s. to Fla. and Ark.
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