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General:
Perennial herb from a rhizome or stolon; stems prostrate and freely rooting to ascending, several, simple, with erect tips and flowering branches up to 30-80 cm tall/long.
Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves lanceolate to egg-shaped, usually floating, smooth above, hairy to smooth below, the blades 5-15 cm long, the stalks up to 1/2 as long as the blades; stipules smooth to hairy, cylindric, 1-2 cm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of 1 or 2 terminal or subterminal, spikelike panicles, 1-8 cm long, 1-2 cm wide; perianths scarlet to rose, 4-5 mm long, 5-lobed.
Fruits:
Achenes, lens-shaped, brown to black, smooth, shiny or sometimes dull, 2.5-3 mm long.
Notes:
Two intergrading varieties occur in BC:
1. Stalks usually glandular-hairy; inflorescence usually at least 4 cm long, cylindric................... var. emersa Michx.
1. Stalks usually smooth; inflorescence rarely 4 cm long, egg-shaped.................... var. stipulacea (Coleman) Fern.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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