General:
Perennial tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems 30-100 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths smooth to slightly hairy; blades 0.8-3 mm wide; lower ligules 0.1-0.5 mm long, higher on the sides than on the back.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a panicle, 8-30 cm long, the branches zig-zag, broadly spreading, the mature spikelets drooping at the ends of the branches; glumes green, unequal, the lower ones 9-15 mm long, the upper 2-3 mm shorter than the lower; lemmas 4.5-5.5 mm long, smooth above, sparsely hairy below, the hairs 0.2-0.5 mm long, awned, the awns 15-25 mm long, twice bent, the first segments rough or short-hairy, the terminal segments zig-zag, persistent; paleas 1/2-3/5 as long as the lemmas, the calluses 0.4-0.7 mm long, blunt.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Stipa richardsonii Link