General: Perennial grass from conspicuous rhizomes; stems erect to more or less decumbent, hollow, 100-150 cm tall/long.
Leaves: Sheaths somewhat flattened, rough, the hairs directed backwards, closed to near the tops; blades 6-10 (12) mm wide, flat; ligules more or less cut-off at the ends, the margins usually irregularly jagged, strongly hairy, minutely rough, the lower leaf ligules 3-6 mm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence a loose, open panicle, 15-25 cm long, the branches spreading; spikelets mostly 4- to 7-flowered, egg-shaped, about 5 mm long and 2 mm wide; glumes more or less fringed with fine hairs, the margins irregularly jagged, the lower ones (0.7) 1 (1.2) mm long, the upper ones about (1.1) 1.5 (1.8) mm long; lemmas prominently 7-nerved, slightly irregularly jagged, 2-2.5 mm long; palea tips with narrow slits, concealed by the lemmas; stamens 2; anthers 0.7-0.8 mm long.
Swamps, lakeshores, streamsides, bogs and moist to wet meadows and forests in the lowland and montane zones; common in SW BC, infrequent E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains N to 55 degrees N; E to SW AB and S to NM, AZ and CA.
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)
