Vigorously rhizomatous, 3–12 dm, stiffly erect, unbranched or sparingly branched; internodes finely puberulent, especially near the top; blades and sheaths glabrous, the blades 6–15 cm × 2–6 mm; ligule 0.2–0.6 mm, somewhat ciliate; infl a dense, cylindric, somewhat lobed panicle 2–11 cm × 3–15 mm, on a peduncle 5–15 cm; spikelets green to often purplish, densely crowded, 3.2–5(–8) mm, the glumes subequal, much exceeding the lemma, tapering to a rigid awn nearly as long as the body; lemma 2–3.5 mm, awnless or rarely with a minute awn-tip, bearded on the callus and pubescent along the veins and margins, sometimes nearly to the tip; anthers 0.8–1.5 mm; grain 1–1.6 mm; 2n=20. Marshes, gravelly shores, wet meadows, seepage areas, and bogs; Nf. to B.C., s. to N.C., Ky., Io., Nebr., Utah, and Nev.
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