General:
Perennial, tufted herb from fibrous rootstocks; stems 15-100 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades flat, 1.5-4 mm wide, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stems.

Flowers:
Spikes 4 to 10, aggregated into a 1- to 2-cm long head, unstalked, with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, at least one of the lower ones conspicuously prolonged and bristlelike, 2-10 cm long, the others reduced or inconspicuous.

Fruits:
Perigynia lanceolate or narrowly egg-shaped, 3-5 mm long, 1.2-1.8 mm wide, light green to straw-coloured or brownish, more or less flattened, the margins winged nearly to the bases, the upper 1/2 fringed with teeth, lightly several-nerved on both sides or nerveless below, the beaks bidentate, less than 1 mm long, narrowly margined and toothed below; female scales egg-shaped, brownish with green centres and translucent margins, somewhat shorter and narrower than the perigynia, short-awned; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.1-1.6 mm long.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Flower Colour:
Green

Blooming Period:
Late Spring

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Spring to Summer

Source:  The USDA