Montana Field Guide

Caespitose Stems erect, 20–50 cm. Leaves basal and cauline; blades 1–2 mm wide. Inflorescence of 4 to 8 sessile, well-separated spikes; lowest bract shorter than the inflorescence. Spikes 3–7 mm long, all similar, female flowers above, male below. Perigynia erect to ascending, green to tan, ovate, 2–2.5 mm long with a serrulate beak, ca. 0.5 mm long; stigmas 2. Female scales ovate, green to tan with a dark midvein and hyaline margins, shorter but nearly as wide as the perigynia. Achene 2-sided, filling the perigynium (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Our plants are subspecies brunnescens.

Wet meadows, seeps, often in cedar forests; montane (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).