General:
Perennial, densely tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems 20-50 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths open; blades of the stem leaves well-developed, in-rolled at least when dry, minutely rough, usually less than 1 mm wide, those of the basal innovations elongate, those of the flowering stems much shorter or the upper obsolete; ligules more or less fringed with fine hairs, blunt, 1.5-2.5 mm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a slender panicle reduced to a nearly simple raceme, egg-shaped and open at flowering, 3-8 cm long, the branches appressed or strongly ascending; glumes very thin, elliptic to egg-shaped, nearly equal, the lateral nerves inconspicuous, 3.5-4 mm long; lemmas about as long as glumes, grey or pale green, awned, the awns readily deciduous, straight or slightly bent, 1-2 mm long; callus hairs lacking.

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:
Piptatherum pungens (Torr. ex Spreng.) Dorn