Vegetative Morphology
Culms	(5)30-120 cm.
Ligules	1.5-2.5 mm, erose-ciliate, often lacerate.
Blades	8-15 cm long, (1)2-6 mm wide, flat to slightly involute.
Reproductive Morphology
Panicles	(2)7-20 cm long, (0.5)1-3 cm wide, usually nodding, not spikelike, spikelets loosely arranged.
Spikelets	2.1-4 mm.
Lower glumes	less than 1/3 as wide as the upper glumes.
Upper glumes	1.9-2.9 mm, oblanceolate to obovate, width/length ratio 0.23-0.35.
Lowest lemmas	2.1-3 mm, smooth or scabridulous.
Distal lemmas	usually smooth, rarely scabridulous near the apices, unawned.
Anthers	0.2-0.8 mm.

Chromosome Number(s)

2n = 14

Typical Habitat(s)

Found in forests, meadows, and waste places from 0-2500 meters; prefers damp to wet, seasonally wet, and clay soils.

Nativity / Range

Present in most of the United States and Canada.

Similar Species

Sometimes confused with Koeleria macrantha; S. intermedia has more open panicles and spikelets that disarticulate below the glumes.

Name/Synonymy Publication Info

Sphenopholis intermedia (Rydb.) Rydb., Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 36:533 (1909). Eatonia intermedia Rydb., Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 32:602 (1905). HOL: NY 380702; U.S.A., Montana: East Gallatin swamps; 24 Jul 1896; P.A. Rydberg 3174.

Koeleria truncata var. major Torrey, Fl. n. middle United States 1:117 (1823); Koeleria pensylvanica [as "pennsylvanica"] var. major (Torrey) Torrey, Fl. New York 2:469 (1843); Reboulea pensylvanica [as "pennsylvanica"] var. major (Torrey) A. Gray, Manual 591 (1848); Eatonia pensylvanica [as "pennsylvanica"] var. major (Torrey) A. Gray, Manual, ed. 2, 558 (1856); Sphenopholis pallens subsp. major (Torrey) Scribner, Rhodora 8:145 (1906); Sphenopholis pallens var. major (Torrey) Scribner ex B.L. Rob., Rhodora 10:65 (1908); Reboulea pallens var. major (Torrey) Farw., Rep. (Annual) Michigan Acad. Sci. 17:182 (1916); Sphenopholis obtusata var. major (Torrey) Erdman, Iowa State Coll. J. Sci. 39:311 (1965). HOL: NY 381276; U.S.A., Massachusetts: near Deerfield; G.E. Cooley [Erdman, Iowa State Coll. J. Sci. 39:311 (1965)].

Vilfa alba Buckley, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1862 [14]:89 (1862), non (L.) Adanson (1763), nec P. Beauv. (1812). HOL: PH; U.S.A., Oregon; H.H. Spalding [locality probably erroneous, ticket on the type specimen crossed out, fide Hitchc., Man. Grasses U.S. 955 (1935)].

Sphenopholis intermedia var. pilosa Dore in McNeill & Dore, Naturaliste Canad. 103:564 (1976). HOL: DAO; Canada, Qu?bec: Breckenridge, wood road near base of Precambrian escarpment; 9 Jul 1948, W.G. Dore and B. Boivin 8612.

Sphenopholis intermedia var. macranthera B. Boivin, Provancheria 12:55 (1981). HOL: GH 24447; Canada, Ontario: Bruce Peninsula, Dyer Bay; 16 Jul 1935; A.S. Pease and E.C. Ogden.

Treatment From

T.F. Daniel. Sphenopholis in Flora of North America, volume 24. In prep. Oxford University Press.

Vegetative Morphology