[citation needed] It is a densely tufted perennial grass found in the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

It is a perennial bunchgrass forming small tufts just a few centimeters high with clumps of short, sharp-pointed leaves.

The tufts are often enveloped in masses of cottony fibers; these are actually hairlike strands of excreted and evaporated mineral salts.

[3] The hairy inflorescence is a spikelet on the end of the stem, surrounded by a bundle of bractlike leaves, and is 6–12 cm (2+1⁄2–4+1⁄2 in) long.

[3] It is native to the Southwestern United States, California, and northern to central Mexico, where it grows in dry regions such as deserts.