General:
Perennial tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems 30-120 cm tall, the nodes and internodes smooth to densely hairy.

Leaves:
Lower sheaths smooth to hairy, often fringed at the throats, brown to grey when old; blades to 3 mm wide, usually straight and upright; lower ligules 0.2-1.5 mm long, often fringed along the margins; upper ligules 0.3-1 (1.5) mm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a narrow panicle 8-30 cm long; glumes almost equal, 9-15 mm long, green, smooth; lemmas 6-7.5 mm long, hairy, the hairs 0.2-0.5 mm long, hairs at the tips similar in length to those at the base of the awns, the awns 15-40 mm long, twice bent, the first 2 segments with short hairs to long, soft, straight hairs, some of the hairs 0.5-1 mm long; paleas 2/5-3/5 as long as the lemmas, the calluses 0.8-1.2 mm long, sharp.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia