General:
Perennial tufted herb, sometimes with short, waxy rhizomes; stems 40-150 cm long, erect but sometimes slightly bent at the base, the nodes exposed, smooth.

Leaves:
Sheaths smooth to finely hairy, often purplish; blades 5-14 mm wide, drooping, usually finely hairy to rough above; ligules up to 1 mm long; ear-shaped lobes at the leaf-bases up to 1 mm long or absent.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a spike, 7-30 cm long, nodding at the tip; spikelets (1) 2 (3) per node, sometimes solitary toward tip, 4 to 5 florets per spikelet; glumes narrowly lanceolate, 3-8 mm long, smooth to rough on the veins, the margins thin or transparent, awned, the awns 1-6 mm long; lemmas 8-13 mm long, rough to short-haired, awned, the awns 10-25 mm long, usually curving outward near the base; anthers 0.9-1.7 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

Flower Colour:
Yellow

Blooming Period:
Late Spring

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Spring to Summer

Source:  The USDA