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

General:
Perennial, usually densely tufted herb from slender rhizomes, forming dense mats; stems thread-like, erect to ascending, 3-12 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths pale, sometimes purplish below; blades lacking.

Flowers:
Spikes solitary, terminal, flattened, linear to egg-shaped, 2.5-7 mm long, 3- to 15-flowered.

Fruits:
Scales 1.5-2.2 mm long, egg-shaped to lanceolate, sharp-pointed or blunt, reddish-brown to brownish with translucent margins and greenish or straw-coloured midribs, the lowest one subtending a flower; perianth bristles 3 or 4, equalling or surpassing the achenes, rarely reduced or lacking; stigmas 3; achenes egg-shaped, more or less 3-angled, white to pale grey or pale yellow, longitudinally 8- to 10-ribbed, the ribs connected by strong cross-ridges, 0.7-1.1 mm long including the more or less conic-triangular tubercles.