Clinelymus excelsus (Turczaninow ex Grisebach) Nevski; Elymus dahuricus Turczaninow ex Grisebach subsp. excelsus (Turczaninow ex Grisebach) Tzvelev; E. dahuricus var. exce-lsus (Turczaninow ex Grisebach) Roshevitz.

Culms robust, ca. 140 cm tall, ca. 6 mm in diam. Leaf sheath glabrous or pubescent at base; leaf blade usually glaucous, flat, 20–30 × 1–1.6 cm, both surfaces scabrous or abaxial surface smooth. Spike erect, robust, 15–22 cm; rachis margin ciliolate. Spikelets 2 or 3(or 4) per node, 2–15(–25) mm excluding awns, with 4 or 5 florets. Glumes narrowly lanceolate, 10–13 mm, 5–7-veined, scabrous along veins, apex with awn ca. 7 mm. Lemma scabrous, glabrous or pubescent distally and at margin; first lemma 8–12 mm; awn reflexed, 15–20(–40) mm, scabrous. Palea slightly shorter than lemma, ciliate along keels, slightly pubescent between keels. Fl. and fr. Jul–Aug. 2n = 42*.

Scrub, meadows, riverside sands, pebbles and rocks up to lower mountain slopes. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Yunnan [Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia].