General: Perennial, tufted herb from short, stout rhizomes; stems 15-40 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.
Leaves: Sheaths purplish-red towards the bases; blades flat, 2-6 mm wide, the lower ones much reduced.
Flowers: Spikes 2 to 5, the terminal ones with male flowers, the lower spikes 1 to 4, with female flowers, 1-2 cm long, short-stalked, erect, except the lowermost often spreading; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, bristlelike to leaflike, shorter to longer than the inflorescence.
Fruits: Perigynia egg-shaped, flattened, 3-3.5 mm long, 1.8-2 mm wide, reddish-brown to purple, nerveless, the beaks obscure, less than 0.5 mm long; female scales lanceolate, nearly as long and wide as the perigynia, pointed at the tips, reddish-black, with light brown margins; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, 1.2-1.5 mm long.
Mesic to wet meadows, streambanks and seepage areas in the subalpine and alpine zones; frequent in N BC; amphiberingian, N to AK, YT and NT, E to W AB and S to MT, ID and NE; E Asia.
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)
