General:
Perennial, tufted herb from short, fibrous roots; stems 10-40 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades flat, 2-3.5 mm wide, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem, lowermost stem leaves reduced to scales.

Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 6 aggregated into a dense, 1- to 2-cm long, triangular to egg-shaped head, unstalked, with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, reduced, inconspicuous.

Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped, 4.5-6 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, brownish to dark brown, more or less flattened, the margins winged nearly to the bases and the upper 1/2 fringed with teeth, lightly several-nerved on the back, with faint nerves or nerveless below, the beak obscurely bidentate, about 1.5 mm long, narrowly margined and toothed below; female scales elliptical, dark brown, somewhat shorter and narrower than the perigynia; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.4-1.8 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 festiva var. decumbens T. Holm
Carex macloviana subsp. haydeniana (Olney) Roy L. Taylor & MacBryde
Carex nubicola Mack.