Rusty wood rush

Rhizomes absent. Stolons to 4 cm; scale leaves present; adventitious roots present. Culms loosely cespitose, 10--30 cm x 0.5--3.5 mm. Leaves: sheaths reddish, throats pilose; blade sparsely pubescent; basal leaves 6--10 cm x 2--5 mm; cauline leaves 2--3, to 4(--6) cm x 1--2.5 mm. Inflorescences simple or rarely branching; proximal inflorescence bract to 1/2 length of inflorescence; bracts brown, apex truncate, glabrous; bracteoles ovate, 1/2 length of tepals; pedicels spreading, 1--4 cm. Flowers: tepals brown, 1.6--2.5 mm, margins entire, clear; anthers 2 times filament length; stigmas 2 times style length. Capsules straw-colored, sometimes reddish, equal to or exceeding tepals; beak a mucro. Seeds dark brown to black, 1.4 mm; caruncle erect to slightly curved, 2/3 length of seed body. 2n = 52 (Japan).

Flowering and fruiting summer. Dry to mesic open montane forests and forest margins to borders of bogs, marshes, and river bars; 0--1500 m; B.C., N.W.T., Yukon; Alaska; Asia.