Puccinellia distans (L.) Parl. var. micrandra Keng, Sunyatsenia 6: 58. 1941.

Perennial, loosely tufted, grayish green. Culms geniculately ascending, 10–20 cm tall, ca. 1 mm in diam. Ligule ca. 1 mm, truncate or triangular; leaf blades short, 2–4 cm, 1–2 mm wide, margins and adaxial surface scabrid. Panicle open, 5–8 × up to 5 cm wide; branches 2 per node, 2–4 cm, lower part naked, smooth; pedicels ca. 0.5 mm, scabrid. Spikelets ca. 2.5 mm, pale yellow, later tinged with purple, florets 2 or 3; lower glume 0.6–1 mm, upper glume ca. 1.2 mm, 3-veined; lemmas ca. 1.5 mm, callus shortly hairy, apex truncate; palea keels smooth; anthers 0.3–0.5 mm. Fl. Jun–Jul.

Tzvelev initially treated this species as a synonym of Puccinellia hauptiana, but he now believes that it is best treated as a distinct species.

* Watersides, meadows; 1000–3100 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, N Jiangsu, Nei Mongol, Shanxi.