Stipa viridula Trin. Green Needlegrass Habit: Tufted perennial. Culms: 60-100 cm. tall, sparingly branched. Blades: Flat or mostly involute, smooth or scabrous above, the lower 10-30 cm. long, stem leaves 6-15 cm. long, 1-3 (5) mm. wide. Sheaths: Basal sheaths overlapping, villous at the throat, often rather sparingly so, more or less hispidulous in a line across the collar. Ligule: Membranous, about 1 mm. long. Inflorescence: Panicle erect, 10-20 cm. long, narrow, the branches mostly in pairs, erect, rather densely flowered from near the base, greenish or tawny at maturity. Spikelets: Narrow, 1-flowered, flower perfect, rachilla disarticulating above the glume. Glumes: Subequal, 7-10 mm. long, narrow, persistent, prominently 3-nerved, hyaline-awn-pointed, exceeding the lemma. Lemmas: 5-6 mm. long, more than 1 mm. wide, strigose, fusiform, strongly convolute, rigid at maturity, plump, brownish, appressed-pubescent, callus rather blunt; ending in a twice-bent awn, 2-3 mm. long, which is spirally twisted below the knee. Palea: Enclosed within the lemmas. Habitat: Plains and prairies: dry places. July-August. Kansas Range: Scattered throughout. Synonyms: Nassella viridula (Trin.) Barkworth