General: Perennial herb from thin rhizomes; stems 30-100 cm tall.
Leaves: Mainly basal, flat except at the tips, stem leaves 2 or more; sheaths green, the basal, persistent ones brownish, cross-wrinkled; blades 2-6 mm wide, flat, except at the tips, the uppermost equalling or surpassing the sheaths.
Flowers: Spikes 4 to 10, terminal, loosely aggregated, usually stalked, the stalks pendulous, to 5 cm long, slender, rough, short-hairy, or rarely all unstalked, egg-shaped, 0.6-1 cm long in flower, 1.5-3 cm long in fruit; anthers 1-1.3 mm long; involucral bracts 2 to 3, green with light brown bases, usually the longest ones surpassing the inflorescence.
Fruits: Scales blackish-green, narrowly egg-shaped, appressed to ascending, 1-ribbed, blunt, the conspicuous, paler midribs expanded at, and extending to the tips; perianth bristles numerous, creamy-white to tawny, many times longer than the achenes; achenes narrowly egg-shaped, 3-4 mm long.
1. Spikes 2 or more, subtended by one or more leaflike involucral bracts.
2. Leaves narrow, elongate, folded or triangular in cross-section; involucral bracts solitary, shorter than the inflorescence...........................................E. gracile
2. Leaves mostly flattened, except at the tips; involucral bracts 2 or more with the longest equalling or surpassing the inflorescence.
3. Spikes crowded, the scales with several conspicuous ribs; perianth bristles orange-brown or coppery...........................................E. virginicum
3. Spikes loosely aggregated, the scales with single ribs; perianth bristles creamy-white to tawny.
4. Midribs of scales extending to the tips, sheaths green...............E. viridcarinatum
4. Midribs of scales not extending to the tips; sheaths blackish..........E. angustifolium
1. Spikes solitary, not subtended by leaflike involucral bracts.
5. Plants rhizomatous or stoloniferous, usually with solitary stems...............E. scheuchzeri
5. Plants without stolons or rhizomes, densely tufted.
6. Scales with broad, pale margins, the basal ones reflexed................E. vaginatum
6. Scales without pale margins, the basal ones not reflexed.
7. Perianth bristles pure white with silky sheen; plants 6-25 cm tall..............E. callitrix
7. Perianth bristles cream-coloured or yellow-tinged; plants 30-60 cm tall..............E. brachyantherum
Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Habitat / Range
Bogs, marshes and wet meadows in the montane to alpine zones; frequent in NW and E BC, infrequent in SC BC; N to AK and YT, E to NF and S to NY, IA, OH, MI, CO and ID.
Ecological Framework for Eriophorum viridicarinatum
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)
