General:
Perennial, somewhat tufted herb from short rhizomes; stems 15-70 cm tall, usually longer than the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades numerous, borne on the lower part of the stem, 1-2.5 mm wide, flat, the lowermost leaves often reduced.

Flowers:
Spikes 4 to 9 in a 3- to 5-cm long, narrow, interrupted inflorescence, occasionally with a few of the uppermost spikes aggregated into a small cluster, egg-shaped, many-flowered, 4-7 mm long, ascending, with both female and male flowers, the female flowers towards the tips, the male flowers inconspicuous; lowermost bract reduced or rarely awnlike, about 0.5 cm long.

Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped, 2-3.5 mm long, 0.5-0.8 mm wide, dark green or brownish, minutely whitish-dotted, plano-convex, smooth, lightly nerved on both surfaces, unstalked, the beaks about 0.5 mm long, smooth, cleft on the upper surface; female scales egg-shaped, covering about 2/3 of the perigynia, pointed, green, with green midribs; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.2-1.7 mm long, filling the perigynia.

Notes:
This is a variable species whose taxonomy and distribution have not been sufficiently studied. Kalela (1965) distinguished the following three subspecies in British Columbia:

1. Plants densely tufted; stems 15-40 cm long, stiff with short stiff leaves; perigynia 2-2.5 mm long, with a dark brown tinge, the margins without wings, with thick walls, coarsely dotted/pitted....................... ssp. alaskana Kalela

1. Plants loosely tufted, stems 30-70 cm long, lax with long, lax leaves; perigynia 2-3.5 mm long, with a purplish or rusty tinge, with winged margins, thin-walled, finely dotted/pitted.

2. Spikes all separated; perigynia without sharp lateral margins and with faint nerves, light olive-green when ripe; achenes entirely filling the perigynia......................... ssp. sphaerostachya (Tuckerm.) Kalela

2. Spikes forming a terminal head, only the lowermost spike remote; perigynia with weak margins and nerves, olive-brown, with rusty-brown spots when ripe; achenes not entirely filling the perigynia.......................ssp. pacifica Kalela

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia