General:
Perennial, tufted grass from fibrous roots, not bulbous-based; stems erect, 60-130 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths closed to the tops, smooth to more or less stiff-hairy or generally hairy; blades often minutely rough, the nerves prominent and broadly spaced, 5-10 mm wide, flat, lax; ligules usually closed in front until split, coarsely jagged, blunt to rounded, 3-9 mm long, the collars smooth to short soft-hairy.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a panicle 12-30 cm long, the branches solitary, at flowering usually spreading to drooping or reflexed, bearing a few spikelets mostly above midlength; spikelets loosely (3-) 4- to 6-flowered, 10-17 mm long; glumes narrow, the lower ones 5-6 mm long, 3-nerved, but the lateral nerves very indistinct, the upper ones up to 7.5-9 mm long, distinctly 3-nerved, often abruptly sharp-pointed; lemmas finely minutely rough or short-hairy, strongly 7-nerved, bifid at the tips for about 1 mm, awned, the awns 3-10 mm long, borne between the teeth; anthers about 3 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:
Avena smithii Porter ex A. Gray
Bromelica smithii (Porter ex A. Gray) Farw.