General:
Perennial, densely tufted herb from fibrous roots; stems 10-80 cm tall, longer than the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths straw-coloured to greenish; blades 4 to 8 per stem, flat or channelled below, borne on the lower 1/2 of the stem, 2-5 mm wide, the lower ones reduced or lacking.

Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 7, the terminal one unstalked or short-stalked, linear, 5-20 mm long, with male flowers (rarely some female flowers), the lower spikes 2 to 5, erect, cylindrical, 5-19 mm long, many-flowered, with female flowers (sometimes with male flowers at the tips), long-stalked, the stalks 5-20 mm long; bracts subtending the female spikes conspicuous, leaflike, 3-8 cm long, much exceeding the inflorescence, the sheaths 2-20 mm long, the upper bracts shorter.

Fruits:
Perigynia spreading to reflexed, egg-shaped, 4.2-6.5 mm long, 1.2-2 mm wide, yellowish-green to green, smooth, prominently nerved, 2-ribbed, the beaks about as long as the bodies of the perigynia, bidentate, finely toothed on the margins, reddish-tinged at the tips; female scales egg-shaped, pointed, shortly awned at the tips, narrower and much shorter than the perigynia, reddish to brownish, with greenish midribs and translucent margins; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, smooth, 1.2-1.5 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

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex flava var. fertilis Peck
Carex flava var. gaspensis Fern.
Carex flava var. graminis Bailey
Carex flava var. laxior (Knkenth.) Gleason
Carex flava var. lepidocarpa (Tausch) Gord.
Carex flava var. nelmesiana (Raymond) B. Boivin
Carex flava var. rectirostra Gaudin
Carex lepidocarpa Tausch
Carex nevadensis subsp. flavella (Krecz.) Janchen