General: Perennial, densely tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems (25) 30-90 (120) cm tall, the nodes not visible.
Leaves: Sheaths conspicuous at the base of the stems, persisting for more than 1 year, remaining entire, not conspicuously splitting between the nerves; blades (4) 10-30 (45) cm long, 1-3 mm wide, flat or folded; ligules 0.2-0.6 mm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence an open panicle, 5-16 cm long, the branches (3) 5-13 cm long often with the flowers and branches borne on one side of the axis, the lower branches weak, to 10 cm long, often reflexed and to one side; spikelets strongly purplish-bronze with a sheen, 8-14 mm long, 3- to 4- (6-) flowered; lower glumes (4) 4.2-6.8 (8.3) mm long, the upper ones (4.5) 5.3-7.5 (10) mm long; lemmas (6.5) 7.5-9 (12) mm long, the margins translucent, awned, the awns 0.2-0.7 mm long; anthers 2.6-4.5 (5) mm long; ovary tops hairy.
Mesic to dry meadows, grasslands, shrublands, rocky slopes and forest openings from the montane (N BC) to alpine zones; common in BC in and east of the Coast Mountains, S to 51 degrees N; amphiberingian, N to AK, YT and NT, E to AB, disjunct to PQ and NF and S to N MI; E Asia.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
