General:
Perennial herb from long-creeping rhizomes; stems 5-20 cm tall, arising singly or a few together, exceeding the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths green, the lower ones bladeless; blades 1 to 4 per stem, crowded toward the base, flat or more often channeled, the margins sometimes in-rolled, 0.3-1.5 mm wide.

Flowers:
Spikes densely aggregated into an egg-shaped, 5- to 20-mm long head, the spikes scarcely distinguishable, 4-9 mm long, unstalked, with both female and male flowers, the male flowers towards the tips; bracts inconspicuous and like the scales.

Fruits:
Perigynia few, narrowly to broadly egg-shaped, 2.5-3.5 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, appressed ascending, brown, obscurely biconvex, smooth, nerveless or often more or less several-nerved, short-stalked, the beaks bidentate, finely toothed, 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the bodies; female scales broadly egg-shaped, as long as and slightly wider than the perigynia, the lower ones awn-tipped, the upper ones round-tipped, light to medium brown, the margins translucent; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, smooth, 1.5-1.8 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 eleocharis L.H. Bailey
Carex stenophylla auct. non Wahlenb.
Carex stenophylla subsp. eleocharis (Bailey) HultTn
Carex stenophylla var. eleocharis
Carex stenophylla var. enervis Kⁿk.