General:
Perennial, tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems erect, hollow, 25-40 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths open, compressed; blades 2-4 mm wide, usually folded, minutely rough, the margins thickened, usually whitish; ligules more or less irregularly jagged, 1-3 mm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a tight panicle, up to 10 cm long, the branches erect, bearing 1 or 2 spikelets; spikelets mostly 4- to 6-flowered; lower glumes 12 (15) mm long, the upper ones 14 (15) mm long; lemmas hardened at the base, with a densely bearded callus, lower lemmas 10-13 mm long, with awns up to 15 mm long, the awns flattened, twisted, abruptly bent; paleas abruptly notched, the slits narrow, concealed by the lemmas; anthers 4-5 mm long; lodicules linear-lanceolate, about 2 mm long.

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:
Avenula hookeri (Scribn.) Holub