Rhizomatous, to 1 m, the culms scabrous below the infl, otherwise glabrous; sheaths glabrous or scaberulous; ligules 1-7+ mm, often lacerate; blades glabrous, or scabrous above, involute, 2-6 mm wide when unrolled; infl 5-15 mm, narrow and congested, sometimes lobed; glumes 2-6 mm, acute or abruptly acuminate, glabrous or scabrous; lemma scabrous, in most plants about equaling the second glume; callus-hairs copious, half to nearly as long as the lemma; awn inserted near the middle, straight or nearly so; rachilla-vestige to 1 mm, hairy throughout; 2n=28-126, apomictic at the higher ploidy-levels. Wet meadows and marshes; circumboreal, s. to N. Engl. and N.Y., Pa., W.Va., O., Ind., Mo., Ariz., and Calif. (C. inexpansa; C. neglecta)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
