General:
Perennial, loosely tufted herb with elongated stolons; stems 20-40 cm tall, about as long as the leaves or longer.

Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades numerous, borne on the lower part of the stem, 1-2.5 mm wide, flat.

Flowers:
Spikes 2 to 5, widely separated on the top of the stem in a 3- to 5-cm long, narrow, interrupted head, occasionally with a few spikes separate below, egg-shaped, many-flowered, 5-8 mm long, ascending, with both female and male flowers, the female flowers towards the tips, the male flowers inconspicuous; lowermost bract awnlike, about 0.5-1 cm long; upper bracts reduced.

Fruits:
Perigynia narrowly elliptical, 2.5-3 mm long, 0.6-0.8 mm wide, pale green, dark green or brownish, minutely whitish-dotted, biconvex, smooth, finely nerved, unstalked, beakless; female scales egg-shaped, covering about 1/2 of the perigynia, pointed, whitish-green, with green midribs; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.2-1.7 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