Coarse perennial, tufted and sometimes stoloniferous, with erect culms 3–8 dm; lvs 1–3 mm wide, often involute; ligules 1–2.5 mm; infl 5–25 cm, usually narrow, with ascending, smooth to scabrous branches, the lowest all or chiefly naked at base; spikelets 5–12 mm, 5–11-fld; glumes ovate, narrowed to an obtuse tip, the first 2–3.5 mm, the second 2.8–4 mm; lemmas firm, obscurely veined, 3–4.5 mm, tapering to a thin rounded summit, usually hairy toward the base; anthers linear, 1.5–2.5 mm; 2n=14–77, most often 56. Salt-marshes and shores; N.S. to R.I., and occasionally adventive s. to Phila.; Europe.
Home