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

General:
Perennial, tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems erect, 30-70 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths smooth to rough, strongly ribbed, not fringed along the margins; blades in-rolled and 0.5-2 mm wide, or if flat, up to 4 mm wide; ligules of the upper leaves to 7 mm long, usually pointed, sometimes jagged at the tips.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a loose, but narrow panicle, 10-28 cm long, the branches ascending; glumes narrow, nearly equal, papery; lower glumes 18-35 mm long, upper glumes 1-3 mm shorter; lemmas 7-13 mm long, evenly covered with 1 mm-long white hairs or smooth across the back of the lemma, awned, the awns firm and straight or zig-zagged and curved, 5-30 cm long; calluses 2-4 mm long, hairy.

Notes:
Two subspecies occur in BC:

1. Terminal segment of the awn firm, straight or almost so, usually less than 5.5 cm long.................... ssp. intermedia (Scribn. & Tweedy) Barkw.

1. Terminal segment of the awn zig-zagged, curved, usually more than 5.5 cm long................... ssp. comata