Habit: 		Tall, tufted perennial grasses, with thick, knotty rhizomes.
Culms: 		1-2.5 m. high, glabrous throughout, in large clumps.
Blades: 	40-60 cm. long, 1.5-3.5 cm. wide, glabrous or pubescent on the upper surface,
		scabrous on the margins, long-acuminate, midrib large.
Sheaths: 	Flattened, shorter than the internodes, glabrous or pubescent at the summit.
Ligule: 	A ring of short hairs.
Inflorescence: 	Terminal and axillary monoecious inflorescences of 1-3 spikes, the
		pistillate part below, the spikelets sunken in hollows of the joints, which break
		up when mature, the staminate above on the same rachis, deciduous as a whole.
		Spikes 15-25 cm. long, pistillate part one fourth the entire length or less.
Spikelets: 	Unisexual, staminate spikelets, 7-11 mm. long,  2-flowered, in pairs at
		each node of the spike, one sessile, the other sessile or pedicellate.
		Pistillate spikelets solitary, 7-10 mm. long, on opposite sides at each
		joint of the thick, hard articulate lower part of the same rachis,
		sunken in hollows in the joints, consisting of one sterile lemma.
Glumes: 	Of staminate spikelet 2, about equal, the first 2-keeled, scabrous on the
		keel, about 9-nerved, rigid, acute, the second membranous, about 5-nerved, the
		2 lemmas and their paleas about equal, each with 3 stamens.
		First glume of pistillate flowers very hard, thick, and shining,
		concealing the rest, many nerves visible from inside; the second glume similar,
		but thinner, folded around the smaller hyaline sterile lemma and perfect floret,
		with progressively smaller hyaline lemma and palea.
Stigmas: 	Exserted as much as 2.5 cm.
Habitat: 	Moist prairies, swamps and banks of streams.  June-September.
Use: 		A robust forage grass.
Synonyms:	Tripsacum dactyloides (L.) L. var. occidentale Cutler & Anders.