General: Perennial, tufted herb from slender rhizomes; stems nearly circular in cross-section, tapered, grooved, smooth, clothed at the base with dead stems and brown, persistent sheaths, up to 1 mm wide, 5-15 cm tall.
Leaves: All near the base of the stem; sheaths blackish to brownish, not cross-wrinkled; upper 1 to 3 blades slender, green, up to 3 cm long.
Flowers: Spikes solitary, terminal, medium to light brown, 2-3 mm long, 2- to 4-flowered; involucral bracts solitary, sometimes prolonged to more than 1/2 the lengths of the spikes, usually shorter, blunt-tipped.
Fruits: Scales brown, egg-shaped, the margins often lustrous brown and translucent, blunt or more or less pointed, awnless or nearly so; perianth bristles lacking; achenes dark brown or blackish, plano-convex, smooth, more or less beaked, 1.2-1.5 mm long. vol6_5
Bogs, lakeshores, fens and wet meadows in the montane and subalpine zones; rare in BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains and N of 51degreeN; circumpolar, N to YT and NT, E to PQ and S to CO, ID and CA; Eurasia.
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)
