General:
Perennial, tufted herb from a short stout rhizome; stems 30-50 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths purplish-red towards the bases; blades flat with rolled-under margins, 2-4 mm wide, the lower ones reduced.

Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 6, the terminal spikes with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips, the lower spikes 2 to 5, with female flowers, short-stalked, 0.6-2.5 cm long, erect, the lowermost spikes remote and long-stalked; bracts subtending the spikes short-sheathing, leaflike, about equalling the inflorescence.

Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped, 4-5 mm long, 1.8-2 mm wide, green to dark brown, nerved, the beaks short, less than 0.3 mm long; female scales broadly egg-shaped, as long as and wider than the perigynia, pointed and abruptly awned at the tips, reddish-black, roughly pimpled; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, granular, 1.7-2 mm long.

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