It is a bunchgrass is endemic to montane California, where it grows in the mountain meadows and pine forests of the Sierra Nevada, and in a few areas of the Transverse Ranges to the southwest.

It is also known by the synonyms Stipa latiglumis and Achnatherum latiglume.

[2] The Jepson Herbarium calls it Stipa latiglumis.

[3] Eriocoma latiglumis is a perennial bunchgrass forming tight bunches of erect stems up to 110 centimeters tall.

Each hairy spikelet is just over a centimeter long and sharply pointed, with an awn about 4 centimeters long and kinked twice.