General:
Perennial, loosely tufted herb from long rhizomes; stems 10-25 cm tall, rough above, about equalling the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths brownish, the lower ones bladeless and breaking into threads; blades 6 to 9 per stem, mostly basal, flat or somewhat channeled, gradually tapering to the tips, 2-2.5 mm wide.

Flowers:
Spikes 2 to 4, the terminal one stalked, linear, 12-20 mm long, with male flowers, the lower spikes 1 to 3, linear, 10-20 mm long, the female flowers short-stalked, erect; bracts subtending the female spikes reduced to bladeless sheaths, up to 1 cm long.

Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped, 2.5-3.5 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, straw-coloured or brownish, obscurely 3-angled, appressed short-hairy, crowded, erect, short-stalked, the beaks bidentate, about 0.5 mm long or less; female scales broadly egg-shaped, dark purplish, with translucent margins, longer than the perigynia; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, 1.7-2 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