Awns of upper staminate florets 5–10.5 mm long, attached from near the base to midlength, usually strongly geniculate, the lower portion twisted with (1)2–4 gyres. 2n = 56, 66, 72.
Anthoxanthum monticola subsp. alpinum is the common subspecies in North America, extending from western Alaska to eastern Greenland and south to the Canadian border in the Rocky Mountains but, east of these mountains, it is mostly north of 60° N except in Quebec and Labrador where it extends south to about 53° N. It usually grows above or north of the treeline in places that are strongly exposed to the wind and have little snow cover during the winter.