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General:
Perennial, tufted herb from fibrous roots; stems 15-60 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.
Leaves:
Sheaths purplish-red towards the bases; blades flat, 2-6 mm wide, the lower ones fully developed.
Flowers:
Spikes usually 2 to 5, the terminal spikes with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips, the lower spikes 1 to 4, with female flowers, 0.6-2.5 cm long, erect, short-stalked, usually the lowermost spikes remote and long stalked; bracts subtending the spikes short-sheathing, leaflike, about equalling the spikes.
Fruits:
Perigynia broadly egg-shaped to nearly globe-shaped, 3.5-4 mm long, 1.8-2 mm wide, flattened, dull yellowish-green with purplish spots, 2-ribbed, the beaks short bidentate, less than 0.5 mm long; female scales lanceolate, nearly as long as and narrower than the perigynia, reddish-black, with light brown margins, with pointed tips; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, 1.5-1.7 mm long.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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