Melica nitens (Scribn.) Nutt. ex Piper

Culms 5–15 dm; sheaths glabrous; blades 5–8, flat, 10–20 cm × 5–12 mm; infl 1–2 dm, more freely branched than in no. 2 [Melica mutica Walter], with short lateral branches from most of the nodes; spikes short-pedicellate, pendulous, 9–12 mm; first glume broadly ovate or ovate-elliptic, 5–8 × 3.5–5 mm, its margins meeting around the spikelet; fertile lemmas (2)3, the second one usually distinctly projecting beyond the first; sterile lemmas 2, obconic, surpassed by the fertile ones; 2n=18. Rocky or dry upland woods; Pa. to s. Minn. and Nebr., s. to Ga. and Tex.