3a. var. compositus

S. asper var. pilosus (Vasey) Hitchc.

S. asper var. hookeri (Trin.) Vasey

Plants without rhizomes. Flowering stems relatively stout, (1.5–)2.0–5.0 mm wide toward the base. Uppermost leaf sheath appearing (1.3–)1.5–6.0 wide when folded. Terminal inflorescences relatively stiff and straight, the main branches 12–35, dense and straight, with 30–80 spikelets per square cm. 2n=54. August–October.

Scattered to common nearly throughout the state (Maine to North Carolina and Alabama west to North Dakota and New Mexico, sporadically west to Washington, Idaho, and Utah). Upland prairies, glades, tops of bluffs, savannas, and dry upland forests, rarely banks of streams and margins of saline seeps; also pastures, old fields, roadsides, and railroads.

This variety of S. compositus has the broadest general distribution and is the most common variety in the state. Steyermark (1963) noted that this drought‑resistant bunchgrass sometimes spreads into overgrazed pastures and that the stems and leaves turn white during the winter.