This grass species was collected in BC for the first time by Curtis Bjork, who found it growing "in grassland-woodland mosaic on Richter Pass, on the southeast slopes of Mount Kobau, about 4.5 km west of Osoyoos Lake", where it was associated with
Amelanchier alnifolia, Artemisia tridentata, Ericameria nauseosa, Festuca campestris, and
Pseudotsuga menziesii (Bjork 2008). He describes the species as "similar to
Festuca viridula Vasey, from which it differs in having longer lemma awns, a larger stature, and in having a tuft of hairs on the top of the ovary" (Bjork 2008). Only one station is known for this species in BC and Canada. Bjork (2008) reports it as a regional endemic in the US where it occurs in Washington State, and is reported "from a few populations along the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains from Franklin County north to Okanogan County (Darbyshire, 2007)".
References: Bjork, Curtis. 2008. Vascular plants new to British Columbia. Botanical Electronic News 391.
