General: Perennial, loosely tufted herb from short rhizomes; stems erect, 15-45 cm tall.
Leaves: Located on the lower part of the stem, nearly circular in cross-section, tapered, the early leaves stiff, with prominent complete cross-walls; sheaths open, with short, pointed, ear-shaped lobes.
Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, 3-7 cm long, the few to several heads cone-shaped, mostly 3- to 6- (10-) flowered, the branches few, erect; perianth segments brown or purplish-brown, 2-2.5 mm long, generally blunt and rounded but the inner shorter and the outer longer and pointed; stamens 6; anthers shorter than the filaments; involucral bracts usually shorter than the inflorescence.
Fruits: Capsules, rounded at the tops, about as long as the perianth segments or slightly longer; seeds spindle-shaped, about 0.4 mm long, lacking appendages.
Lakeshores, riverbanks, gravel bars, bogs and marshes from the lowland to subalpine zones; infrequent throughout BC; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, PA, IN, IL, IA, NE, CO, UT, ID and WA; Greenland, Eurasia.
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)
