Carex tribuloides var. tribuloides

General:
Perennial, tufted herb from fibrous roots; stems 50-90 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades flat, 2.5-7 mm wide, borne along the stems, the lower ones strongly reduced.

Flowers:
Spikes 6 to 15, aggregated into an elongated head 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 narrowly lanceolate, 3-5 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, pale green or straw-coloured, more or less flattened, distended over the achenes, the margins winged nearly to the bases, the upper 1/2 fringed with teeth, lightly several-nerved on both sides, the beaks shallowly bidentate, 1-1.2 mm long, narrowly margined and toothed below; female scales elliptical, pointed, brownish, with translucent margins, somewhat shorter and narrower 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

Flower Colour:
Green

Blooming Period:
Late Spring

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer

Source:  The USDA