Elymus lanceolatus ssp. Foliage and culms are bluish and glaucus with only partial pubescence on the lemma.
Spikes are long and compact with alternating spikelets on the rachis.
Similar in appearance to slender wheatgrass and western wheatgrass. Medium to coarse textured soils which are neither strongly alkaline or acidic. Schwendimar' has survived and grown well under dryland conditions at Pullman, Lind, Central Ferry, and Mattawa Washington. Schwendimar' seed germinates in cool soils and develops rapidly. Rhizome growth may not occur the first growing season.