General:
Perennial, tufted herb from fibrous roots; stems 20-80 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades flat or folded, 2-4 mm wide, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem.

Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 6, aggregated into a 1- to 5-cm long, often interrupted head, unstalked, with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, reduced, inconspicuous.

Fruits:
Perigynia broadly egg-shaped to nearly globe-shaped, 3.2-4.6 mm long, 2.2-3.5 mm wide, pale green to tan, more or less flattened, the margins winged nearly to the bases and the upper 1/2 fringed with teeth, with nerves on both sides or nerveless below, the beaks shallowly bidentate, less than 1 mm long, narrowly margined and toothed below; female scales elliptical, brownish with translucent margins, somewhat shorter and narrower than the perigynia; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.7-2 mm long. vol6_2

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 festucacea var. brevior (Dewey) Fernald