Tufted perennial 1–5(–7) dm, sometimes stoloniferous in late season; lvs flat, 1–2 mm wide; ligules 1–3 mm; infl 3–20 cm, its branches usually smooth or nearly so (as also the pedicels), the upper erect, the lower often spreading or descending, usually bearing spikelets mainly or only beyond the middle; spikelets 3–6-fld; glumes ovate, the first 1–2.7 mm, the second 1.5–4 mm; lemmas ovate to obovate, obscurely veined, glabrous or short-pilose at base, acute to obtuse, the distal margins entire or erose or with a few scattered scabrules; first lemma 2.4–4.2 mm; anthers 0.7–1.5 mm; 2n=42, 56. Salt-marshes and gravelly beaches along the coast; Conn. to Lab. and Hudson’s Bay; Calif. to Aleut. Isl. (P. paupercula) The measurements above apply to the usual form of the sp. A taller, perhaps not persistent form from P.E.I., with diffuse infl and much elongate glumes and lemmas (to 10 mm) has been called P. paupercula var. longiglumis Fernald & Weatherby. It may be teratological.
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