Desv., Jour. de Bot. (Desv.)1:77.1813 Coarse, erect perennial, l-2 m tall; culms stout. Sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous, keeled near the apex, the margins scabridulous; blades 15-50 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, sparsely pubescent or scabrous above and below, the margins scabrid. Panicles 25-40 cm long, the branches verticillate, scabrous, with spikelets in upper two-thirds; glumes minute; lemma indurate, 5-6 mm long, stoutly scabrous, minutely striate, awned, the awn 1-2 cm long. Shattuck 849. Collected several times by Shattuck along the shore, but not seen recently. Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.