| Author | (L.) Beauvois | |
| Distribution | Mountains; with a gap between Yancey and Clay counties.
A circumboreal species, with ssp. glauca ranging south to NC, KY, IL, and AZ. | |
| Abundance | Very rare, with apparently just a single collection site in each county. Thankfully, the Clay County site (Buck Creek barrens) is in excellent condition. This is a State Threatened species. | |
| Habitat | Rock outcrops or barrens over mafic or limey substrate -- very rare habitat conditions in NC. |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting June-July. | |
| Identification | Stems grow 2-4 feet tall from a tuft of slender and rather short, ascending to erect leaves. The inflorescence is terminal, open, with branches alternate, opposite, or whorled; it is conspicuously very pale to straw colored, in contrast to the green color of the stem and leaves. The spikelets have only 2 florets, as opposed to all of our Poa, Festuca, and Schedonorus taxa. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | The subspecies glauca is the only one found in NC.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Tussock Grass (a name used for many species) | |
| State Rank | S1 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | [T] | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
