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

General:
Perennial, tufted herb from short, stout rhizomes; stems 15-40 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths purplish-red towards the bases; blades flat, 2-6 mm wide, the lower ones not reduced.

Flowers:
Spikes 2 to 5, the terminal one with male flowers, the lower spikes 1 to 4, with female flowers, short-stalked, 0.6-2.5 cm long, erect, except the lowermost often long-stalked and nodding; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, bristlelike to scalelike, shorter than the inflorescence.

Fruits:
Perigynia narrowly egg-shaped, 2.5-4 mm long, 1.2-1.8 mm wide, reddish-brown to purplish-black, nerveless, the beaks short, less than 0.5 mm long; female scales lanceolate, as long as and narrower than the perigynia, pointed at the tips, reddish-black, w