Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast.

Habitat: Waste ground, meadows, and roadsides.

Flowers: June-August

Origin: Introduced from Europe

Growth Duration: Annual

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Wind

Annual, the culms 2-9 dm. tall, erect.

Sheaths closed, covered with spreading, soft hairs; ligules 0.5-1.5 mm. long; blades flat, hairy, 2-5 mm. broad.

Inflorescence a loose panicle 7-15 cm. long, the branches ascending to spreading, the pedicles longer than the spikelets; spikelets 5- to 9-flowered, oblong-lanceolate, flattened, 13-20 mm. long; first glume 5-7 mm. long, 3-nerved, the second slightly longer, 7-nerved; lemmas 9-10 mm. long with awns 4-10 mm. long from a bifid apex; paleas 1-2 mm. shorter.