Physiognomy and Structure: Examples of this vegetation consist of dense herbaceous cover dominated by grasses or sedges.

Floristics: Examples of this vegetation consist of dense herbaceous cover dominated by grasses or sedges. These grassy balds are characteristically dominated by Danthonia compressa, Carex pensylvanica, or other Carex spp. with many characteristic forbs including Minuartia groenlandica, Paronychia argyrocoma, Saxifraga michauxii, Solidago glomerata, Solidago rugosa ssp. aspera, Sibbaldiopsis tridentata, and others. Large areas have also become dominated by Rubus allegheniensis, possibly with other brambles (Rubus canadensis, Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus) and by mixtures of native grasses with exotic pasture grasses (e.g., Phleum pratense). Most examples of grassy balds have some invading shrubs and trees, often dense enough to threaten the herbaceous vegetation.

Dynamics:  The dynamics that created and maintain this vegetation are the subject of a yet unresolved debate. Most grassy bald occurrences show a strong tendency to succeed to shrub or forest vegetation under present conditions, suggesting that some important maintenance process has been lost. Grazing by native herbivores (elk and bison) and periodic fire have both been suggested as natural mechanisms to keep out woody vegetation. Exposure to wind, snow, ice, and heavy rainfall also retard succession to shrubland or forest. Others have suggested that all grassy balds are of anthropogenic origin and were never ecologically stable. The most definitive grassy balds have been documented as present at the time of the first European settlement, making documentation of their origin impossible. The presence of shade-intolerant disjunct herb species in some suggests even greater age. Some areas of the spruce-fir system degraded by a combination of logging, slash fires, and grazing resemble grassy balds, but most do not. The universal cattle grazing in grassy balds by early settlers has further obscured their original character and evidence of processes. Heath balds are more widely regarded as being created or maintained by fire. However, heavy organic accumulations in the soil suggest great age for some. Most show very limited tendency to succeed to forest, suggesting that the dense shrub layer is highly competitive and that only infrequent fire would be needed to maintain them. As with the grassy balds, spruce-fir forests burned in historical times do not usually develop vegetation identical to heath balds.