General:
Perennial herb from long-creeping rhizomes; stems 10-50 cm tall, arising singly, triangular, rough below the inflorescence, longer than the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight; ligules shorter than wide; blades 4 to 8 per stem, V-shaped, cross-walled; 2.5-5 mm wide, arising in the lower 1/3 of the stem.

Flowers:
Spikes 2 to 5, the terminal 1 or 2 spikes with male flowers, the lower 1 to 3 spikes with female flowers, 1-3 cm long, on short stalks, erect; bracts subtending the lowest spike leaflike, sheathless or short-sheathing, the lowest shorter than the inflorescence.

Fruits:
Perigynia elliptical to broadly egg-shaped or nearly globe-shaped, 2.5-4 mm long, 1.3-2.2 mm wide, obscurely few-nerved, inflated, purplish-black, shiny, the bases round, short-stalked, the beaks short, 0.1-0.3 mm long, entire or nearly so; female scales lanceolate to egg-shaped, with blunt or pointed tips, narrower and shorter than the perigynia, purplish-brown, with 3-nerved, lighter centres and narrow, translucent margins; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, 1.5 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

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex membranopacta L.H. Bailey