General:
Perennial tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems 10-30 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheath margins open 2/5-3/4 their length; blades 1-3 mm wide, flat, thin; ligules 1-2 mm long, the tips blunt to rounded, the backs smooth.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a lax to nearly erect panicle, 2.5-10 cm long, sparse, open, the branches 1 to 2 per node, spreading to reflexed, hairlike, smooth; spikelets laterally compressed, 4-6 mm long, 3- to 5-flowered; glumes lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, thin, the lower ones 1-nerved; rachillas smooth, hairless; lemmas broadly lanceolate, 3-4 mm long, the tips sharp-pointed, usually purple-coloured, surface smooth, keel and marginal nerves silky-hairy, between nerves hairless; calluses sparsely cobwebby; palea keels smooth to rough; flowers bisexual; anthers 0.4-1 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:
Poa glacialis
Poa leptocoma subsp. paucispicula (Scribn. & Merr.) Tzvelev
Poa leptocoma var. paucispicula (Scribn. & Merr.) C.L. Hitchc.
Poa merrilliana Hitchc.