General:
Perennial, clumped herb from short rhizomes; stems triangular with rough edges, 10-65 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.
Leaves:
Sheaths tight, short; blades flat, well distributed along the stem, 3-6 mm wide, the lower ones reduced.
Flowers:
Spikes 3 or 4, the terminal spike with male flowers, the lower spikes 2 or 3, with female flowers (sometimes with male flowers at the tips), unstalked or with short stalks, 0.5-2.5 cm long, erect; lowermost bract subtending the spikes scalelike, sheathless, with black ear-shaped lobes, the upper ones reduced.
Fruits:
Perigynia broadly egg-shaped, 2-4 mm long, 1.2-2.3 mm wide, brownish-green, 3-angled, the angles rounded, smooth to somewhat wrinkled, beakless; female scales egg-shaped, shorter or longer than the perigynia, brownish-red to purplish-black, with lighter 3-nerved centres and translucent margins; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.2-1.7 mm long.
Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
Elevation
(metres) |
1721 | 350 | 2150 |
Slope
Gradient (%) |
2 | 0 | 15 |
Aspect (degrees) |
296 | 14 | 332 |
Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 5 | 8 |
Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
#
of field plots species was recorded in: |
36 | ||
Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(1), ESSF(26), MS(7), SBS(2) | ||
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|