Plants annual (perennial elsewhere), with a soft base.
Flowering stems (10–)15–60 cm long, glabrous. Leaf blades 1–3 mm wide, flat to
strongly inrolled, glabrous or finely hairy on the undersurface. Leaf sheaths
glabrous. Lower glume 4–8 mm long, 1/2–2/3 as long as the upper glume, 1‑nerved,
glabrous, the tip sharply pointed or with an awn 1–3 mm long. Upper glume 7–11
mm long, 1‑nerved, glabrous, the tip sharply pointed or with an awn 1–4
mm long. Lemmas with the body 6–10 mm long, roughened and often with a somewhat
raised midnerve, the awns persistent, not jointed at the tip of the lemma (the
awns arise as a continuation of the lemma tip, without a cross‑line),
flattened at the base, 7–20 mm long, about equal in length, ascending and
straight or somewhat bent outward, but not coiled. 2n=22. July–October.
Uncommon, known only from historical collections from
Jackson County (Missouri to California, Mexico, Central America, South America,
Caribbean Islands, Africa). Habitat unknown, but presumably upland prairies,
dry upland forests, and disturbed, open areas.
The collections from Jasper, Vernon, and St. Clair Counties
mapped by Steyermark (1963) could not be confirmed during this study and
presumably were based upon misdetermined specimens. Missouri populations are
along the eastern edge of this species’ range in the United States. It is
widespread and quite variable morphologically and has been separated into a
number of ill‑defined varieties by various authors, none of which merit
taxonomic recognition.