Montana Field Guide

Caespitose from short rhizomes. Stems erect, 20–60 cm. Leaves basal and cauline; blades 3–7 mm wide. Inflorescence of 3 to 6 separate to overlapping spikes; the lowest bract greater than the inflorescence. Spikes unisexual, ascending; the uppermost 1 to 3 male, linear; the lower female, 2–5 cm long, subsessile to short-pedunculate, cylindric. Perigynia ascending to erect, green to purplish, lanceoloid to ovoid, often partly inflated, glabrous, 6–8 mm long tapered to a beak 2–3 mm long; stigmas 3. Female scales acuminate, brown with a pale midstripe and margins, awn-tipped, smaller than the perigynia. Achene 3-sided, much smaller than the perigynium (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Marshes, wet meadows, shores, wetlands that dry later in the summer; valleys, montane (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).