E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial, somewhat tufted herb from fibrous roots; stems 20-100 cm tall, longer than the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths coppery-coloured towards the tips, conspicuously red-dotted with glandular projections on the side nearest the stem, the blades of the lower ones large, firm, persistent; blades 3 or 4 per stem, borne mostly from near the bases, 2.5-6 mm wide, flat, the margins rolled-under.

Flowers:
Spikes numerous, clustered in several aggregated heads, in a 3.5-8 cm long, dense, branched inflorescence, egg-shaped, few-flowered, 4-7 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, erect to ascending with both female and male flowers, the male flowers towards the tips; bracts inconspicuous, sheathless, often similar to the female scales.

Fruits:
Perigynia narrowly triangular to egg-shaped, 2.5-4 mm long, about 1.2-1.5 mm wide, straw-coloured to brown, biconvex, smooth, strongly nerved on the outside, short-stalked, the beaks as long as the bodies, winged, the margins fine-toothed; female scales egg-shaped, equalling or slightly longer than the perigynia, pointed, brown, the margins translucent; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.2-1.4 mm long.