General:
Perennial, densely tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems densely hairy near and within the panicle, 6-25 (30) cm tall, the nodes visible in larger plants.

Leaves:
Sheaths not conspicuous at the base of the stems, remaining entire, not shredding into fibres; blades (1.5) 3-9 (17) cm long, 0.25-0.8 mm wide, folded, more or less angular and irregular-hexagonal in cross-section with weakly developed sclerenchyma strands; ligules 0.1-0.3 mm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a compact, usually dense, egg-shaped panicle, 1.5-3 (4) cm long, the branches 0.3-1.5 cm long (on plants 20-30 cm tall, the panicles are often elongated and narrow); spikelets 2- to 5- (6-) flowered, 4.5-8.5 mm long, often borne on 1 side; lower glumes 2.2-3.7 mm long, the upper ones 3-5 mm long; lemmas 3.5-5.6 mm long, awned, the awns 0.8-2.5 (3.3) mm long; anthers 0.3- 0.7 (1.1) mm long; ovary tops hairy.

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