General:
Perennial, loosely tufted herb from slender, scaly rhizomes; stems 15-35 cm tall, from shorter than to longer than the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths reddish-tinged, the lower ones bladeless and thread-like; blades 6 to 10 per stem, flat or somewhat channeled, gradually tapering to the tips, 2-5 mm wide.

Flowers:
Spikes 2 or 3, the terminal one linear, 8-22 mm long, with male flowers, the lower 1 or 2 spikes linear to cylindrical, 5-10 mm long, unstalked or short-stalked, with female flowers, erect; bracts subtending the female spikes reduced to awn-tipped sheaths.

Fruits:
Perigynia broadly egg-shaped, 2.5-3 mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, light green, 3-angled, densely hairy, obscurely several-nerved, crowded, erect, short-stalked, the beaks bidentate, about 0.5 mm long or less; female scales narrowly egg-shaped, brown, with wide translucent margins, slightly longer to slightly shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 4, rarely 3; achenes 3-angled, 2-5 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