Stems are woolly at the base.
Dull bluish-green when growing, curing to gray or a dirty white. Coarse, nearly straight, and fairly wide, the edges sometimes rolled. Leaves attached both at the base of the plant and along the upright stems that bear the seedheads. Leaf blades may be partly covered with short, light, woolly fuzz. Spike composed of groups of chaffy spikelet clusters which drop at maturity to leave a zigzag seed stalk.