General:
Perennial grass in small clusters from rhizomes; stems hollow, erect, 100-150 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths closed at the base but open for the upper 2-7 cm; blades flat, 3-7 mm wide, sometimes the uppermost reduced to barely 1 cm long; ligules minutely fringed with fine hairs, 1.5-3.5 mm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a one-sided raceme, 10-25 cm long; spikelets 5 to 12, broadly spaced, becoming reflexed, loosely 7- to 11-flowered, up to 3 (3.5) cm long; glumes translucent, the lower ones about 4-5 mm long, the upper ones usually somewhat jagged-lobed, 6-7 (8) mm long; lemmas slightly rough, mostly 7-8 mm long, jagged to tri-lobed at the tips, prominently 7-nerved, awned, the awns 3-10 mm long; paleas slightly to considerably shorter than the lemmas, the wings of each keel prominent and free at the tips for 0.5-1 mm, unawned; anthers 3-4 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:
Lophochlaena refracta A. Gray
Lophochlaena refracta var. refracta