General:
Annual grass from fibrous roots, usually branching from the base; stems decumbent to erect, up to 100 cm tall/long.

Leaves:
Sheaths open, usually smooth, but the throats sometimes with a few hairs up to 3 mm long, the collars smooth; basal leaves similar to the stem leaves, the blades somewhat rough but otherwise smooth, 4-12 mm wide; ligules 2-3 mm long, the lower third membranous.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a panicle, 15-30 cm long, the branches ascending; spikelets 2-flowered, about 2.5 mm long, the lower florets sterile, the upper ones always fertile; lower glumes egg-shaped, with rounded tips, about 1/4 the length of the spikelets, 0.5-1 mm long, the upper ones smooth, lightly 9-nerved, sharp-pointed; sterile lemmas smooth, lightly 9-nerved, sharp-pointed, with translucent paleas 1-1.5 mm long; fertile lemmas much-hardened and faintly-nerved; lodicules about 0.5 mm long, semi-tubular; anthers about 1.2 mm long.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia