General:
Perennial, usually aquatic herb from long, often reddish, weak, very soft rhizomes; stems practically circular in cross-section, tapered, flaccid, usually floating near the tips rather than emersed, 20-80 cm long.

Leaves:
Leaves 5 to 20 or more, borne near the base, usually floating, or rarely with erect or emergent leaves, about equalling the stems; sheaths straw-coloured to whitish, often free from the stems and resembling blades; blades elongate, slender, flaccid, C-shaped in cross-section near the base, flattened most of the length, mostly longer than the sheaths.

Flowers:
Spikes solitary, rarely 2, light brown, 7-12 mm long, egg-shaped to nearly cylindrical; involucral bracts solitary, conspicuous, stiff, not leaflike, appearing like an extension of the stem, (1) 1.5-6 cm long.

Fruits:
Scales 4-6 mm long, faintly-nerved, smooth, sometimes fringed with small, short hairs near the tips (at 40 times magnification), egg-shaped to lanceolate, pointed, the midribs firm, sometimes minutely exerted into awns up to 0.1 mm long; perianth bristles 4 to 6, brown, minutely- and finely-barbed backwards, shorter than to occasionally equalling or slightly surpassing the achenes; achenes 3-angled, brown, 2.5-3.8 mm long including the prominent (0.5 mm long), abruptly sharp-pointed tips.

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:
Scirpus subterminalis Torr.