General:
Perennial grass from rhizomes; stems smooth or hairy, 50-115 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths smooth or fringed with fine hairs; blades flat, the margins prominently thickened and hard, smooth on the lower surfaces, sparsely hairy on the upper surfaces, 2-8 mm wide; ligules membranous, 0.1-0.75 mm long; ear-shaped lobes at the leaf-bases 0.5-1.25 mm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence an erect or lax, terminal spike, 8-21 cm long, with 1 spikelet per node; spikelets 3- to 10-flowered, 11-18 mm long; glumes stiff, blunt, with evident midnerves often forming thick points, 4.5-10 mm long, the margins not transparent; lemmas 7.5-10 mm long, blunt and awnless or rarely with awns up to 5 mm long.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia