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

General:
Annual or biennial herb from a taproot; stems erect, several, simple, coarsely hairy, 5-30 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves narrowly lanceolate, pinnately lobed or deeply dissected, 4-15 cm long, tapered to the base, the lobes ascending, sharp-pointed; stem leaves lacking.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of dense bracteate spikes, the spikes elongate, 2-22 cm long; corollas green-brown, 4-lobed, 3 lobes about 1 mm long, spreading and 1 erect, all narrowly egg-shaped; bracts equal to or twice as long as the sepals, round at the base, long pointed at the tips; stamens conspicuous.

Fruits:
Capsules, broadly egg-shaped, 2-3 mm long; seeds usually 3, the larger one about 1.5 mm long and sometimes partly winged, the smaller ones less than 1 mm long.