General: Perennial, loosely tufted herb from short, spreading rhizomes; stems 10-60 cm tall, clustered, much longer than the leaves, reddish-purple at the bases.
Leaves: Sheaths tight, persistent; blades flat, channeled towards the tips, smooth or somewhat rough, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem, 1-1.5 mm wide, the lower ones slightly reduced.
Flowers: Spikes 3 or 4, the terminal one unstalked, 10-13 mm long, with male flowers, the lower spikes 2 or 3, few-flowered, with female flowers, unstalked, erect to spreading; bracts subtending the female spikes leaflike, sheathless, from shorter than to longer than the inflorescence, the upper bracts reduced.
Fruits: Perigynia elliptical to egg-shaped, 3-4 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, greyish or yellowish-green, convex, grey stiff-hairy, with 2 prominent marginal nerves, the bases short-stalked, the beaks short, 0.4-0.5 mm long, bidentate; female scales egg-shaped and pointed or sometimes short-awned, shorter than the perigynia, reddish-brown, with lighter midribs and translucent margins; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, smooth, 1.5-2 mm long.
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)
