Mary E. Barkworth, Julian J.N. Campbell and Bjorn Salomon
Culms 8–40 cm, erect or decumbent. Blades usually glabrous abaxially, sometimes puberulent. Spikes 3–10 cm, often partly included, usually with 2 spikelets per node. Spikelets with (1)2–3 fertile florets, lowest 1–2 florets sterile and glumelike. Glume awns 15–40(70) mm, entire; lemma awns 25–70 mm, usually exceeding those of the glumes; paleas often with the veins extending as 1–2 mm bristles.
Elymus elymoides subsp. californicus grows in mid-montane to arctic-alpine habitats in western North America, at elevations of 1500–4200 m. Plants transitional to subsp. elymoides occur where the two are sympatric.