General: Perennial, tufted herb from short, stout rhizomes; stems 15-100 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.
Leaves: Sheaths purplish-red towards the bases; blades flat, 2-6 mm wide, the lower ones much reduced.
Flowers: Spikes 5 to 10, the terminal one with female flowers at the top and male flowers below, the lower spikes 4 to 9, with female flowers, long-stalked, 1-4 cm long, drooping; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, leaflike, longer than the inflorescence.
Fruits: Perigynia broadly egg-shaped, 3.5-4 mm long, 1.8-2.2 mm wide, papery thin, pale yellow to green or light brown, marginally 2-ribbed, otherwise faintly nerved, the beaks short, less than 0.4 mm long; female scales lanceolate, much shorter and narrower than the perigynia, pointed at the tips, reddish-black, with light brown margins; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, stalked, 1.2-1.5 mm long.
Roadsides, ditches, and wet meadows in the lowland and montane zones; common in BC south of 55degreeN, rare in NW BC; amphiberingian, N to AK and S YT, E to AB and S to ID, MT and CA; E Asia.
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)
A shade-intolerant, montane to subalpine, Asian and Western North American sedge distributed more in the Pacific than the Cordilleran region. Occurs on fresh to very moist, nitrogen-rich soils within boreal, humid cool temperate, and cool mesothermal climates. Inhabits exposed mineral soil on high-elevation clearcuts, clearings, and waysides; often near streams or on seepage sites. A nitrophytic species characteristic of disturbed sites.
