General: Perennial herb from thick stem-bases with short rhizomes, sometimes with bulblets; flowering stem 1, 10-30 cm tall, hairy to nearly smooth below, glandular-hairy above, the glands mostly reddish or purplish.
Leaves: Basal leaves egg-shaped, 2-7 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, gradually tapered at base, entire or minutely toothed, usually fringed, sometimes smooth, but often with rusty, tangled hairs below; stalks 5-40 mm long; stem leaves lacking.
Flowers: Inflorescence a terminal cluster of flowers, conical and open-branched, the bracts usually linear to linear-lanceolate, some with rusty, woolly hairs; petals usually whitish or yellowish, 2-4 mm long, egg-shaped, narrowed to a slightly clawed base, deciduous; calyces cone-shaped, joined to the base of the ovary, free hypanthium absent, the lobes egg-shaped, 1-2 mm long, spreading, sometimes bent back; stamens 10.
Fruits: Follicles, 3.5-5 mm long, often reddish or purplish; seeds brown, about 0.6 mm long, lightly wrinkled lengthwise.
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)