General:
Perennial, tufted herb from fibrous roots; stems 30-80 cm tall, well exceeding the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades flat, 2-3 mm wide, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem.

Flowers:
Spikes 4 to 6, aggregated into an elongated, 2-4 cm long head, unstalked, with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, scalelike, the lowermost one occasionally prolonged.

Fruits:
Perigynia lanceolate or narrowly egg-shaped, 6-8 mm long, 2-2.3 mm wide, light green to straw-coloured or brownish, more or less flattened, the margins winged nearly to the bases, the upper 1/2 fringed with teeth, many-nerved on both sides, with spongy bases, the beaks 2-3 mm long, bidentate, broadly-margined, toothed below; female scales egg-shaped, brownish, with green centres, with translucent margins, somewhat shorter and narrower than the perigynia, short-awned; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 2.5-3 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 liddonii