E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Annual grass from fibrous roots, usually freely branched basally; stems ascending to erect, 30-100 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths keeled, usually hairy at the throats; blades flat to folded, mostly (3) 4-10 mm wide, rough-margined, usually slightly soft-hairy on the upper surfaces; ligules with the membranous basal portions about as long as the fringes, about 1.5 mm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence an erect, cylindrical, interrupted panicle, mostly 5-10 cm long, usually about 1 cm wide when pressed; spikelets 2-flowered, 2-2.5 mm long, each subtended by 1 (2), finely barbed bristle mostly 4-7 mm long, the hairs directed downwards; lower glumes 3-nerved, barely 1/2 as long as the upper ones; lower flowers male or sterile, the upper fertile; sterile flowers with lemmas sharp-pointed and with narrow paleas about 1/2 their length; anthers dark purple, about 1 mm long.