Culms 6–12 dm, in small tufts; sheaths glabrous; ligules of the upper lvs 4–6 mm, the lower much shorter; blades 2–5 mm wide, glabrous beneath, scabrous and usually also hairy above, the lower elongate, tapering to a fine point; panicle narrow, ± nodding, 1–2 dm, usually wholly exserted, the few branches each with 1–few spikelets; glumes 28–45 mm, tapering to a very slender point; mature lemma (15–)17–23 mm, brown, pubescent at base, decreasingly so above; awn 12–20 cm, stout, stiff, twice geniculate near the middle, the central segment usually 1.5–3 cm; 2n=44, 46. Dry prairies and open woods; Mich. and Ind. to N.D., Wyo., Mo., and N.M.; also in scattered dry habitats in O., Ont., and Pa. (Hesperostipa s.)
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