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General: Perennial, tufted herb from fibrous roots; stems 30-60 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.
Leaves: Sheaths tight; blades flat, 2-3 mm wide, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem, the lower ones reduced.
Flowers: Spikes 3 to 6, aggregated into a 3- to 5-cm long head, unstalked, with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, reduced, inconspicuous.
Fruits: Perigynia cylindrical to elliptical, 4-5.5 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, greenish or golden-yellow, more or less flattened, the margins winged nearly to the bases and the upper 1/2 fringed with teeth, lightly several-nerved on both sides or nerveless below, the beaks obliquely cut, 1-1.3 mm long, narrowly margined and toothed below; female scales elliptical, light silvery-brown, with translucent margins, concealing the perigynia; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 2.5 mm long.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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