It is a perennial
bunchgrass forming small tufts just a few centimeters high with clumps of short, sharp-pointed leaves. The tufts are often enveloped in masses of cottony fibers; these are actually hairlike strands of excreted and evaporated
mineral salts. The hairs are typically not present in spring. Numerous hairless, wiry, stems are tall. The hairy
inflorescence is a spikelet on the end of the stem, surrounded by a bundle of bractlike leaves, and is long. The spikelets are pale in color, sometimes striped with red, purple, or green. It blooms from February to May. == Distribution and habitat ==