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

General:
Perennial, tufted herb forming tussocks; stems 10-60 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal sheaths brownish, cross-wrinkled, persistent; stem leaves 1 to 3, the sheaths conspicuously expanded upwards; blades 0.5-1.2 mm wide, folded.

Flowers:
Spikes solitary, terminal, erect, egg-shaped to nearly globe-shaped and 1-2 cm long in flower, nearly globe-shaped and 1.7-4 cm long in fruit; anthers 1-2 mm long; involucral bracts lacking.

Fruits:
Scales greyish to blackish, with broad pale margins, narrowly egg-shaped to long-pointed, appressed to ascending, gradually tapering near the tips, the midribs not reaching the tips, at least the lower ones reflexed, the sterile scales mostly 10 or more; perianth bristles numerous, whitish, many times longer than the achenes; achenes 1.9-2.8 mm, (3.5) mm long, not fringed with small serrated teeth.