E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial, strongly tufted grass from fibrous roots, stems numerous, 20-120 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths open, smooth to rough; blades matted at the base, rather stiff, sometimes flat but most folded or in-rolled, smooth to rough below, rough above, with a few, prominent, raised nerves, 1.5-3 (4) mm wide; ligules entire but often split, hairy, sharp-pointed or rounded, 4-8 mm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a loose and open to narrow panicle, 8-30 cm long, the branches spreading or drooping to erect (even at maturity); spikelets usually glistening, purplish to tawny, 2-flowered, rarely 3-flowered, glumes rather narrow, the lower ones 1-nerved, 2.5-5 (6) mm long, the upper ones 3-nerved, often somewhat jagged, 3-6 (7) mm long; lemmas 5-nerved, 2.5-4 mm long, the tips jagged and 4-toothed, awned from the base, the awns 3-5 mm long, straight or bent, the callus hairs about 1 mm long; lodicules egg-shaped to lanceolate, 0.7-1 mm long, anthers 1.2-2.2 mm long.

Notes:
This is a widespread, difficult complex and until an adequate monographic study is undertaken we are recognizing only two subspecies for BC:

1. Glumes mostly 5-7 mm long; lemmas averaging 4 mm long; panicles open during flowering .... ssp. beringensis (Hult.) Lawrence

1. Glumes mostly less than 5 mm long; lemmas averaging 3.5 mm, if longer then the panicles closed at flowering .... ssp. cespitosa