Looks like Elymus hystrix

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=k610

https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/grasses/plants/bottlebrush.htm

It does indeed! Thanks for the links. It’s a very attractive grass. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem able to out-compete the Japanese stilt grass on its own so perhaps I’ll sow some seed this fall (when I pull out the stilt grass). I’m plagued by deer and fencing the yard isn’t practical, so in addition to using plants deer don’t like, I also try to avoid plants that deer don’t eat, but like to bed down in. For example, I have a large bed of daffodils, irises and assorted bulbs that the deer don’t bother during the spring when they’re flowering (except to eat the crocuses) but this year I noticed that they sleep in the foliage during the summer and leave their fawn there during the day. I tried spraying various things to make the area unappealing, but to no avail. I’m not going to remove the bulb bed, but in adding new plants or encouraging the spread of existing plants I’d like to avoid creating deer beds. Do you think a stand of bottlebrush grass would just end up being a deer bed?

Japanese stiltgrass is an annual so if you pull it now you will stop the seed production. It flowers fairly late - August into September. Stopping the reproductive cycle is key. There was a lot of it on my property ten years ago. Occasionally I see a seedling or two which is from water flowing down a stream and a spring area.

Yup, I know. That it flowers late and is really easy to pull up are the only redeeming qualities this plant possesses IMO. Unfortunately I’ll never get rid of it because it’s taking over the wild parts of my neighbors’ yards, but I’ve been trying to limit its spread in the wooded parts of my property. Since I didn't have to worry about propagation until August I’ve only been weeding it out of flower beds or where I have something to plant immediately after I’ve removed the stiltgrass. I’ve learned the hard way that nature abhors a vacuum. I’ve pulled a ton of it out over the past few years and plan to try a new approach this season. I’ll just weed whack in areas that I can‘t cultivate now or where I intend to lay down cardboard followed by mulching with arborist wood chips. Done this late in the summer, the grass won‘t have time to regenerate and produce seed. Also I’m hoping to take advantage of its allelopathy - making lemonade as it were.