General:
Annual herb from fibrous roots; stems clustered, decumbent to erect, slender, wiry, 3-30 cm tall.

Leaves:
Few, borne mostly below the middle of the stem; sheaths bladeless, merely abruptly slender-tipped or the upper ones with slender blades sometimes up to 10 cm long.

Flowers:
Spikes 2 to several, terminal, 3-15 mm long, unstalked or short-stalked, egg-shaped or lanceolate, in head-like clusters (that appear to be on the side of the stem) or with 1 or 2 branches to 15 mm long; involucral bracts erect but somewhat incurved, resembling a continuation of the stem, mostly 2-10 cm long, the subsidiary ones below the spikes inconspicuous, rarely as much as 3 cm long.

Fruits:
Scales translucent, the midribs firmer, greenish and extending beyond the tips, 2.5-3.5 mm long; perianth bristles present or absent; achenes nearly equilaterally strongly 3-angled, dark grey brown to blackish at maturity, finely but prominently cross-wrinkled, about 1.4 mm long.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Schoenoplectus saximontanus (Fernald) Raynal