Montana Field Guide

Caespitose. Stems erect, 15–70 cm. Leaves basal and cauline; blades 3–8 mm wide. Inflorescence of 2 to 5 ascending spikes; the lowest bract shorter than the inflorescence. Spikes: the uppermost male or bisexual with male flowers below, 1–3 cm long; the lower female, 10–25 mm long, pedunculate, cylindric. Perigynia ascending, green to purple, narrowly lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely setose above, 3.5–4.5 mm long with an entire, indistinct beak ca. 1 mm long; stigmas 3. Female scales purplish to black sometimes with a pale midstripe, shorter and ca. as wide as the perigynia (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

In Montana we have varieties ablata (L.H. Bailey) F. J. Herm. and atropurpurea Dorn.

Moist to wet meadows; montane, subalpine (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).