It is native to North America, where it is widespread from British Columbia to Ontario in Canada and through the central and Great Lakes regions of the United States.

[3] As the grass expands or contracts according to the temperature and moisture conditions, the awns twist or untwist to eventually drill the seeds into the soil – a phenomenon known as geocarpy.

[1] Hesperostipa spartea has a bunchgrass foliage mass of 3–6 feet (0.91–1.83 m) in diameter [4] The flower stalks are upright and arching, yellow, in late Spring.

[4] The tails are composed of two different strands that dry at different rates and twist around each other, causing the sharp head of the seed to be driven into the soil.

Just behind the sharp, needle-like tip, is a collar of long thick hairs that face backward, preventing the seeds from working their way back out of the soil.

[4] Native Americans such as the Omaha and Pawnee made brushes from this plant by tying the awns together and burning off the sharp seeds at the ends.