Plants cespitose, rhizomatous. Culms 55–125 cm, forming corms, corms attached to the rhizomes; internodes scabrid-ulous basally. Sheaths usually scabridulous, sometimes glabrous or pilose; ligules 0.4–5 mm, to 1.5 mm on the lower leaves, to 5 mm on the upper leaves; blades 2–10 mm wide, abaxial surfaces smooth or scabridulous, adaxial surfaces scabridulous, glabrous or with hairs. Panicles 8–25 cm, lax; branches 1.7–9 cm, usually appressed to ascending, occasionally divergent, with 1–5 spikelets; pedicels not sharply bent; disarticulation above the glumes. Spikelets 10–28 mm, with 2–5 bisexual florets; rachilla internodes1.8–2 mm. Lower glumes 4–8 mm long, 1.3–2.2 mm wide, 1–3-veined; upper glumes 5.5–11.5 mm long, 2–3 mm wide, 3–5-veined; lemmas 5.5–18 mm, usually strigose over the veins, hairs longest towards the base, 7–9-veined, veins prominent, apices strongly tapering and acuminate, unawned; paleas 1/2–3/4 the length of the lemmas; anthers 1.5–2.5 mm; rudiments 4–9 mm, tapering, resembling the bisexual florets. Caryopses 4–5 mm. 2n = 18.
Melica subulata grows from sea level to 2300 m in mesic, shady woods. Its range extends from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska through British Columbia to California, east to Lawrence County, South Dakota, and into Colorado.