Festuca occidentalis is a tufted fescue that lacks
rhizomes. The smooth and shiny
culms are tall. Culms have two exposed nodes and have glabrous internodes. The shoots are intravaginal. The leaf sheaths are glabrescent and rounded with a prominent midvein. The position of the
auricle is marked by a distinct swelling. The minutely erose
ligule is long. The basal leaves are capillary and long. In cross section, the leaf blades are wide and thick, with three large veins and one to five ribs. The basal offshoots are erect, arising from the tops of the pale brown sheaths. The lax, subsecund, flexuous
panicle is long. The panicle has two unequal and strongly reflexed branches at the lower node, with branches long bearing minute trichomes. The three to five flowered
spikelets are long. The
rachilla is visible at anthesis and internodes are long. The unequal
glumes are narrow and acute. The lower glume is long with one vein, and the upper glume is long with one to two veins. The membranaceous, oblong to lanceolate
lemmas are long, with slender, flexuous
awns long.
Paleas have inflexed sides that meet in the middle, measuring long. Lodicules are toothed and lack trichomes.
Anthers are long. The
ovary is pubescent at its apex. It flowers from late June into July. ==Distribution and habitat ==