General:
Perennial, tufted herb from short rhizomes; stems 30-70 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths reddish towards the bases; blades flat, with rolled-under margins, 3-5 mm wide, the lower ones not much reduced.

Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 6, the terminal with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips, the lower 2 to 5 spikes with female flowers, stalked and nodding, 1-2.5 cm long; bracts subtending the spikes short-sheathing, leaflike, about equalling the spikes.

Fruits:
Perigynia broadly egg-shaped, 2.5-4 mm long, 1.3-1.8 mm wide, with rounded margins above, greenish-brown to reddish-black, flat, nerveless, the beaks short, shallowly bidentate, less than 0.4 mm long; female scales lanceolate, usually shorter than and nearly as wide as the perigynia, pointed at the tips, light to dark brown, with translucent margins; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, egg-shaped, granular, 1.2-1.4 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

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex atratiformis subsp. raymondii (Calder) A.E. Porsild
Carex raymondii Calder