E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial herb from a spherical underground corm bearing fibrous roots; stems ascending to erect, simple, single to several, 5-25 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves 1 or 2, elliptic to broadly oblanceolate, the blades 2-15 mm wide, up to 15 cm long including the threadlike underground stalk; stem leaves paired, opposite, free, usually unstalked, narrowly lanceolate to egg-shaped, 1.5-6 cm long, 5-20 mm wide, smooth.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of loose racemes with 3-20 flowers on stalks 1-5 cm long, with one bract subtending the lowest flower; petals 5, white or pinkish or pink-veined, 5-12 mm long, joined at the base for 1-2 mm; sepals 2, 3-7 mm long.

Fruits:
Capsules, egg-shaped, 4 mm long; seeds 3-6, round, black, shiny, 2-2.5 mm long.

Notes:
Plants with stalked stem leaves from Vancouver Island and NW WA have been recognized as var. pacifica. Since plants with stalked stem leaves occur in populations of the species elsewhere in BC and WA this form does not appear significant. The yellow-flowered form (var. chrysantha), found just to the south of the BC border in NW WA was also shown to be synonymous with this species (Douglas and Taylor 1972).