General: Perennial, loosely tufted herb from short rhizomes; stems erect, 40-75 cm tall.
Leaves: Located along the stem, nearly circular in cross-section, tapered, but slightly flattened, the early leaves stiff, with prominent complete cross-walls, sheaths open, with short, rounded, ear-shaped lobes.
Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, the several to many heads with 5 to 20 flowers, cone-shaped, 3-12 cm long, the branches erect; perianth segments greenish-brown, 3-3.5 mm long, pointed, the inner about equal to the outer; stamens 3; anthers 0.7-1 mm long, shorter than the filaments; involucral bract shorter than the inflorescence.
Fruits: Capsules egg-shaped, pointed, about as long as the perianth segments; seeds spindle-shaped, about 0.4 mm long, lacking tail-like appendages.
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.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
Lakeshores, wet ditches, marshes and bogs in the lowland and montane zones; frequent in SW BC, infrequent E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; disjunct E to ON, PQ and NS, and S to ME, MA, PA, NC, FL, MS, TX, NM, AZ and CA.
