General: Perennial, densely clumped herb from short rhizomes; stems triangular, with smooth edges, slightly rough below the inflorescence, 10-90 cm tall, shorter than to slightly longer than the leaves.
Leaves: Sheaths tight, short; blades flat, arising from the lower part of the stem to well distributed along the stem, 1.5-4 mm wide, the lower ones reduced, slightly reduced, or not.
Flowers: Spikes 3 to 9, the terminal spike with male flowers, occasionally with female flowers on the top, the lower spikes 2 to 8, with female flowers, unstalked or with short stalks (the lowermost spike occasionally on a long stalk), 1-5 cm long, erect; lowermost bract subtending the spikes leaflike or scalelike, sheathless, with pale green, purplish-brown, brown, or blackish-brown ear-shaped lobes at the bases, exceeding the inflorescence, the upper bracts reduced.
Fruits: Perigynia egg-shaped, 1.8-3.6 mm long, 1-2.2 mm wide, bluish-green, brownish-green or green, 3-angled, the angles rounded, with 5 to 7 nerves on each side, unstalked or with short stalks, easily falling off when ripe, the beaks minute or short, up to 0.5 mm long; female scales egg-shaped, shorter to longer than and sometimes narrower than the perigynia, light green to reddish-brown, or purplish or blackish-brown, with broad, lighter centres, with prominent translucent margins; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.1-1.8 mm long.
Notes: Four varieties occur in BC.
1. Terminal spike with female flowers at the top and a few male flowers at the bases, the basal spike up to 1.5 cm long, with a stalk up to 1 cm long................... var. dolia (M.E. Jones) Standley
1. Terminal spike with all flowers male, the basal spike up to 5 cm long, with a stalk up to 5 cm long.
2. Female scales light brown; perigynia beaks green; ear-shaped lobes at the base of the involucral bract white......................... var. lenticularis
2. Female scales purplish-brown or blackish; perigynia beaks purplish-brown; ear-shaped lobes at the base of involucral bract generally purplish-brown.
3. Basal spikes 4-6 mm wide; perigynia stalks 0.4-0.7 mm long; inflorescence compact ........................var. limnophila (Holm) Cronq.
3. Basal spikes 3-4 mm wide; perigynia stalks up to 0.4 mm long; inflorescence diffuse.......................... var. lipocarpa (Holm) Standley
Marshes and wet meadows in the lowland zone (var. limnophila), streamsides and ponds in the subalpine and alpine zones (var. dolia), wet meadows, sandy beaches and marsh edges in the lowland zone (var. lenticularis), and bogs and wet sites in all but the alpine zone (var. lipocarpa); var. dolia - rare throughout BC; var. limnophila - frequent in coastal BC; var. lenticularis - rare in and E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains in S BC, and var. lipocarpa - common throughout BC south of 56degreeN, rare in NW BC; var. dolia - N to SE AK, E to SW AB and S to NW MT; var. limnophila - N to SE AK and S to NW CA; var. lenticularis - N to NT, E to NF and S to MA, NY, MI, WI, MN, MT and ID; and var. lipocarpa - N to SE AK, E to AB and S to NM, AZ and CA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
