General:
Perennial, loosely to densely tufted grass from fibrous roots, short-lived, sometimes stoloniferous; stems 25-120 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths compressed, rough, margins open about 1/2-3/4 their length; sterile shoots sometimes trailing and rooting at nodes; blades 1-5 mm wide, flat, lax, not prow-tipped; ligules 3-10 mm long, the tips sharp-pointed to long-pointed, the backs rough.

Flowers:
Inflorescence an erect or lax panicle, 8-25 cm long, pyramidal, open, the branches 3 to 7 per node, spreading, distinctly rough angled, crowded; spikelets laterally compressed, 2.3-3.5 mm long, 2- to 4-flowered; lower glumes often sickle-shaped, 1-nerved; rachillas smooth or minutely bumpy; lemmas lanceolate, 2.3-3.5 mm long, the tips sharp-pointed, the surface smooth or rough, the keels and rarely the marginal nerves short silky-hairy below, lateral nerves prominent; calluses cobwebby; palea keels smooth, minutely bumpy, or slightly rough; flowers bisexual; anthers 1.3-2 mm long.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia