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

General:
Annual, loosely tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems sometimes solitary, erect (sometimes bent or angled at the lower nodes), 5-30 (55) cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths smooth or short-hairy; blades usually in-rolled (sometimes flat), smooth or short-hairy, up to 1.5 mm wide; ligules 0.2-0.6 mm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence an erect panicle, 2-8 (15) cm long, contracted when mature, the lower branches (and spikelet stalks) erect or appressed; spikelets 5-10 mm long (excluding the awns), (3-) 4- to 6- (8-) flowered, the florets loosely overlapping; glumes smooth, the lower glumes 1-nerved, 3.5-5 (7) mm long, the upper glumes 3-nerved, 4.5-7 (8) mm long; lemmas smooth or short-hairy, lanceolate, 5.5-7.5 (8) mm long, the terminal awns (3) 5-12 (15) mm long; rachilla internodes about 1 mm long; anthers usually 1 (rarely 2 or 3), 0.3-0.5 (2) mm long.