General:
Perennial, tufted herb from short rhizomes; stems 20-80 cm tall, hairy, shorter than the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight, hairy; ligules longer than wide; blades 2 or 3 per stem, soft-hairy, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem, 2-3 mm wide, the lower ones reduced.

Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 5, the terminal one linear, 8-15 mm long, with male flowers, rarely with female flowers above and male flowers below, the lower spikes 2 to 4, elliptical to cylindrical, 5-20 mm long, 1-2.5 mm wide, with female flowers, the upper nearly unstalked and approximate, the lower short-stalked and remote, erect to spreading; bracts subtending the female spikes leaflike, sheathless, longer than the inflorescence.

Fruits:
Perigynia elliptical to cylindrical, 2.1-3 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, yellowish-green, smooth, obscurely many-nerved, nearly round, beakless; female scales egg-shaped, pointed to short-awned, about equalling the perigynia, pale green; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, 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 pallescens var. neogaea Fernald