General:
Perennial, tufted herb from short, blackish, fibrous roots; stems 5-35 cm tall, varying in length, densely clustered, usually shorter than the leaves, narrowly winged and roughened on the angles, enlarged below the spikes.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight, translucent below; blades 2 to 4 per stem, glaucous-green, with the margins rolled-under, minutely pimpled, borne on the lower 1/4 of the stem, 3-5 mm wide, the lower ones reduced.

Flowers:
Spikes 1 to 3, widely separated, from terminal to near basal, 10-15 mm long, with both male and female flowers, the male flowers towards the tips, few, unstalked, inconspicuous, about 2 mm long, the lower flowers female, 2 to 5, unstalked to short-stalked, erect; bracts subtending the female spikes leaflike, sheathless or short-sheathing, from shorter than to 6-10 times as long as the spikes, the upper bracts reduced.

Fruits:
Perigynia broadly egg-shaped, 4-5 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, green or greenish, inflated, smooth, nerveless, stalked, the beaks bidentate, conic, slightly fine-toothed, about 0.5-1 mm long; female scales greenish, leaflike, 0.5-2 cm long, 4-5 mm wide when f

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 backii var. saximontana