. Awns of the upper staminate florets 4.5–7 mm long, attached at or above midlength, not or weakly geniculate, the lower portion not twisted or twisted with 1–2 gyres. 2n = 56, 58, 63.
Anthoxanthum monticola subsp. monticola grows from Greenland through Labrador to the eastern side of Hudson Bay and south to northern New Englan. It usually grows in similar but wetter and more exposed habitats than those occupied by subsp. alpinum.