Click on the image below to view an
expanded illustration for this species.
|
General: Perennial, loosely tufted herb from branching rhizomes; stems 10-50 cm tall, equalling or shorter than the leaves.
Leaves: Sheaths tight, blunt at the mouths, with short ligules; blades usually 2 per stem, flat, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem, 1.5-3 mm wide, the margins rough.
Flowers: Spikes solitary, with both female and male flowers, the male part linear with a few male flowers towards the tips, short-stalked above the 1 to 3, more or less remote, spreading female flowers, 15-25 mm long, 7-12 mm wide; bractless.
Fruits: Perigynia egg-shaped, tapering to spongy bases, 5-7 mm long, 2.5-3.5 mm wide, greenish or brownish, smooth, 2-ribbed, abruptly short-stalked, the beaks short, scarcely bidentate; female scales lanceolate, longer and slightly wider than the perigynia, sharp-pointed or short-awned, greenish to brownish, the centres lighter, the margins broad, translucent; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, 3.5-4.5 mm long.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
|