This rather poorly understood taxon occurs mostly in seasonally damp piney woodlands of the lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast. It extends north only to Ark. and Miss., according to FNA 25 (unlike PL), but it is locally common in s. Tenn. (D. Estes, pers. comm.). Var. divergens appears to intergrade with var. scoparium, especially in Miss. It is distinguished by having more developed staminate pedicellate spikelets at proximal positions on inflorescence branches (versus mostly sterile), and usually more hairy foliage (FNA 25). It has been reported from Ky. by B, Cr and others, based on B's colls. from CHRI and GRAY (US). Colls. of H. Lix (US) from EDMO (Doyle Valley) have also been annotated as this taxon by K.N. Gandhi. A thorough revision of all S. scoparium is still needed in Ky.