This grass is native to North America from Alaska to New York to northern Mexico.

It has a thick, fibrous root system, sometimes with rhizomes, the stems may form stolons.

It has flat leaves each up to a centimeter wide at the base and rapidly narrowing to a point.

[3] The tip of the stem is occupied by a narrow, pointed inflorescence many centimeters long made up of a few spikelets.

Common native grass associates in the far west coastal prairies are Danthonia californica, Deschampsia caespitosa, Festuca idahoensis and Nassella pulchra.