General: Perennial herb from rhizomes; stems erect, 10-40 cm tall.
Leaves: Located on the lower part of the stem, flat, lacking cross-walls; sheath with short ear-shaped lobes or lobes lacking.
Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, of 1 to 5 hemispheric heads, each of them with 7 to 15 flowers; perianth segments chestnut-brown with lighter midribs, 4-6 mm long, pointed, subequal; stamens 6; anthers about 1-1.4 mm long, slightly longer than the filaments; bracts shorter than the inflorescence.
Fruits: Capsules, cylindrical to egg-shaped, rounded at the tops, about as long as the perianth segments, dark; seeds spindle-shaped, the body about 1.5 mm long, with tail-like appendages at each end.
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)
Wet streambanks and marshes in the steppe and montane zones; rare in BC in and E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains and S of 55degreeN; E to AB and S to WY, UT, NV and CA.