General:
Perennial, tufted herb from fibrous roots; stems 20-70 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades flat, 1-3.5 mm wide, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stems.

Flowers:
Spikes 6 to12, aggregated into a compact, narrow head 1-3 cm long, unstalked, with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, reduced, inconspicuous.

Fruits:
Perigynia narrowly lanceolate, 3.3-4 mm long, 0.8-1 mm wide, pale green or straw-coloured, more or less flattened, the margins narrowly winged nearly to the bases, the upper 1/2 fringed with teeth, lightly several-nerved on both sides, the beaks shallowly bidentate, 1 mm long, narrowly margined and toothed below; female scales elliptical, pointed, brownish with translucent margins, somewhat shorter and narrower than the perigynia; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1 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 crawfordii var. vigens Fernald