General:
Perennial, tufted herb from fibrous roots; stems triangular, 10-30 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades folded, 1.5-2 mm wide, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem.

Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 6, aggregated into a rather compact head, 1-2.5 cm long, unstalked, with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, reduced, inconspicuous.

Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped, 4-6 mm long, 1.7-2.5 mm wide, straw-coloured to dark brown, the margins winged nearly to the bases, the upper 1/2 fringed with teeth, lightly several-nerved on the back, with faint nerves or nerveless below, the beaks obscurely bidentate, up to 1 mm long, narrowly margined and toothed below; female scales elliptical, pointed, brown, with narrow translucent margins and lighter centres, longer and wider than the perigynia; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 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