Blades 1–6.5 mm wide. Spikes 2–23 cm, with 3–20 spikelets; rachises slender. Spikelets 5–16 mm long, 1–5 mm wide. Glumes 5–16 mm, (1/2)2/3 as long as to somewhat exceeding the distal florets; lemmas 3.5–5.5 mm long, 1.2–1.8 mm wide, usually unawned, rarely awned, awns to 10 mm, attached 0.2–1 mm below the apices. Caryopses 3.2–4.5 mm long, 1.2–1.8 mm wide.
Lolium temulentum subsp. remotum is native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. It originated as a weed in flax fields, through unintentional selection for seeds that could not be separated from flax seed using early harvesting techniques. It is a rare weed in the Flora region, being reported only from southern Ontario and California, where it grows in waste places and fields.