Culms 50-130 cm. Ligules 1-3 (-4.6) mm long, truncate to obtuse, ciliolate; blaes 15-80 cm long, 4-8 mm wie when flat, usually involute and 0.5-2.5 mm in diameter; flag leaf blades 5-39 cm long, 10-25 mm wide, stramineous. Glumes 8-15 mm long, exceeding the florets;callus hairs 1-3 mm long;lemmas 8-11.5(-14 mm) long, somewhat thicker than the glumes, tips acute, entire, unawned, rarely mucronate, mucros up to 0.2 mm, subterminal; anthers 3-7 mm long.
Ammophila breviligulata is native to northeastern North America but it has been introduced as a sandbinder to some locations in the western United States. There are two subspecies. They overlap in their morphological characteristsics and occupy similar habitats but differ in their flowering times.