Montana Field Guide

Caespitose. Stems erect, 15–50 cm. Leaves basal and lower-cauline; blades 1–4 mm wide. Inflorescence of 7 to 15 sessile spikes in a tight conical cluster; lowest bracts short. Spikes 5–10 mm long, all similar; female flowers above; male below. Perigynia ascending, green, lanceolate, 2–3 mm long, including the broad, serrulate beak, ca. 1 mm long; stigmas 2. Female scales tan with hyaline margins and a green midvein, shorter and narrower than the perigynia. Achene 2-sided, filling the perigynium (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Wetlands along streams, ponds, lakes, often with Carex athrostachya; valleys, montane (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).