Herbs, perennial, loosely cespitose, 2--4 dm. Rhizomes short, sparingly branched. Cataphylls 0--1. Leaves: basal 1--3, cauline 1--2; auricles rounded, scarcely prolonged, scarious; blade imperfectly septate (often inconspicuous), ascending, terete to slightly flattened, 8--18 cm x 0.5--1 mm, much reduced distally. Inflorescences glomerules, 1--3, each with 1--3 flowers; peduncles 0.2--1 cm, primary bracts nearly equal to or slightly surpassing glomerules. Flowers: bracteoles absent; tepals pale to reddish brown, lanceolate to lanceolate-ovate, 4--5 mm x 1 mm, apex acutish; outer and inner series nearly equal; stamens 6, filaments 2.5--3.5 mm, anthers 0.4--0.5 mm; style 1--1.2 mm. Capsules greenish to tan, pseudo-3-locular, ellipsoid, 5.5--9 x 1.8--2.6 mm. Seeds pale yellow, fusiform, body 0.8--1.1 mm, tails 1--1.4 mm.

Flowering and fruiting mid-- to late summer. Wet moss, bogs, and bog-pools; Alta., B.C., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., Man., N.S., N.W.T., Nunavut, Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Maine, Mich., Minn., N.Y.; e Asia.Eurasia.