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General:
Perennial aquatic herb from a fibrous root and rhizomes; flowering stems several, arising from the base of the plant to the water surface, tending to be coiled, the female ones 1-2 m long.
Leaves:
Basal leaves linear, 10-200 cm long, 1-10 mm wide, entire to minutely toothed, thin, longitudinally veined, the crosswalls often reddish, the tips rounded or abruptly pointed; stem leaves lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of either numerous, nearly unstalked, axillary, male flowers or solitary, long-stalked, axillary female flowers; petals either 1, white, elliptic, about 1 mm long (male) or 3, about 0.5 mm long (female); sepals 3, greenish, broadly lanceolate, unequal, 0.5-0.8 mm long (male) or 5-6 mm long (female); stamens 2.
Fruits:
Capsules, cylindric, 5-10 cm long; seeds small, numerous.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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