Description

General - tufted perennial herb from a thickened rootstock; stems, upright, rather slender, triangular, up to 90 cm tall, smooth.

Leaves - elongated, dark green, less than 1 cm wide, usually somewhat rough along the edges.

Flower Cluster - borne in spikes, with usually 1 male spike and 1-3 female spikes; male spike slender, long-stalked and extending above the female spikes; female spikes round, up to 3.8 cm across, with 2-12 perigynia; female scales lanceolate, awn-tipped or sometimes merely rounded at the tip, about 1/2 as long as the perigynia.

Perigynia - inflated, ovoid, smooth, shiny, many-nerved, up to 2.5 cm long, tapering to a 2-toothed beak; styles 3; achenes triangular with flat or concave sides.

Habitat

Only found southwest of Thunder Bay, in proximity to Lake Superior near the U.S. - Canada border; uncommon in forest environments; mostly in rich, moist, black ash stands, usually on mineral-rich soils.

Notes

A forage for widlife species.

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