General: Perennial, tufted herb from long rhizomes; stems 5-35 cm tall, arising singly or a few together, usually spreading, shorter than the leaves.
Leaves: Sheaths tight; blades 3 to 6 per stem, flat, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem, 2-4 mm wide, the lower ones slightly reduced.
Flowers: Spikes 3 to 5, the terminal spike stalked, 4-10 mm long, with male flowers, the lower spikes 2 to 4, erect, with female flowers, stalked, the stalks up to 4 cm long; bracts subtending the female spikes sheathless, 3-6 cm long, leaflike, the lower over-topping the inflorescence.
Fruits: Perigynia globe-shaped, 2-3 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, inflated, bright orange, coarsely ribbed, with a powdery surface, beakless; female scales egg-shaped and pointed to rounded at the tips, shorter and narrower than the perigynia and spreading, reddish-brown, with greenish midribs and translucent margins; stigmas 2, rarely 3; achenes lens-shaped, 1.2-1.4 mm long.
Moist to wet fens, bogs, gravel bars, lakeshores and steambanks in all vegetation zones; frequent in BC in and east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, MA, PA, OH, IN, IL, TX, NM, AZ and CA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
