Rhizomes about 2 mm thick. Culms 12-70 cm. Basal blades 10-31 cm long, 3-8 mm wide. Spikes 5-13(16) cm, with 3-14 nodes. Glumes 9-14(21) mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, often longer than the lemmas, villous. 2n = 28.

Leymus mollis subsp. villosissimus is an arctic taxon found primarily in eastern Siberia, Alaska, and northwestern Canada. It grows mostly on arctic coasts, but is also known from a few inland locations.