General: Perennial, loosely tufted herb from short rhizomes; stems erect, 40-75 cm tall.
Leaves: Located along the stem, nearly circular in cross-section, tapered, but slightly flattened, the early leaves stiff, with prominent complete cross-walls, sheaths open, with short, rounded, ear-shaped lobes.
Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, the several to many heads with 5 to 20 flowers, cone-shaped, 3-12 cm long, the branches erect; perianth segments greenish-brown, 3-3.5 mm long, pointed, the inner about equal to the outer; stamens 3; anthers 0.7-1 mm long, shorter than the filaments; involucral bract shorter than the inflorescence.
Fruits: Capsules egg-shaped, pointed, about as long as the perianth segments; seeds spindle-shaped, about 0.4 mm long, lacking tail-like appendages.
Lakeshores, wet ditches, marshes and bogs in the lowland and montane zones; frequent in SW BC, infrequent E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; disjunct E to ON, PQ and NS, and S to ME, MA, PA, NC, FL, MS, 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)
