Plants cespitose, with caudices or with rhizomes up to 2 mm thick. Basal rosettes well-differentiated; blades 1-14 cm long, to 22 mm wide, ovate to lanceolate. Culms 20-75 cm, erect or decumbent to sprawling, often purplish; nodes and internodes glabrous or puberulent to pubescent; fall phase initially nearly erect, often sprawling eventually, branches initially erect and apparently dichotomous, later rebranching, blades and secondary panicles smaller than those of the culms. Cauline leaves 4-6; sheaths not overlapping, often glaucous, purplish, or olivaceous, glabrous or puberulent, margins usually ciliate; ligules about 0.3 mm, membranous, ciliate, cilia longer than the membranous portion, rarely with adjacent, about 12 mm hairs; blades 5-16 cm long, 5-25 mm wide, linear to ovate-lanceolate, glabrous or puberulent, with 9-13 major veins and 30-80 minor veins, bases cordate-clasping, often asymmetrical, with papillose-based marginal cilia. Panicles 5-12 cm long, 3-10 cm wide, open, exserted; branches flexuous. Spikelets 2.2-3.2 mm long, 1.1-1.3 mm wide, ellipsoid, yellowish-green or purplish, pubescent.Lower glumes 0.7-1.8 mm; upper glumes and lower lemmas equaling or slightly shorter than the spikelets; lower florets sterile; upper florets often minutely umbonate. 2n = 18.
Dichanthelium commutatum is fairly common in dry to wet, semi-open woodlands. Its range extends from the eastern United States to South America. The primary panicles are open-pollinated and are produced from April through June; the secondary panicles are primarily cleistogamous and are produced from June through fall.