Plant: Tall perennial graminoid Leaves: 12-16, light green, 6-23 mm wide, nearly flat, the leaf sheath cylindrical and open to the base, the scarious upper portion tapering or rarely truncate, not auricled Inflorescence: (including stem) 1-3 m tall, as long as or slightly longer than the leaves, the pistillate and staminate portions contiguous, rarely slightly separated; staminate spikes 6-12 cm long, light brown; pistillate spikes dark brown, 10-18 cm long, 1.5-3 cm thick Flowers: STAMINATE FLOWERS: pollen orange or more commonly yellow, in tetrads. PISTILLATE FLOWERS without subtending bracts, on slender almost hair-like "compound pedicels" 1-2 mm long Fruit: FRUITS ellipsoid, 1 mm long, long stalked, minute nutlets, dry, tardily dehiscent, buoyant; SEEDS albuminous, striate, with mealy endosperm Misc: In shallow, slow-moving water of streams, lakes or marshy areas; 1200-2500 m (4000-8200 ft); May-Sep; (fr. Jul-Oct) REFERENCES: Ricketson, Jon. 2001. Sparganiaceae. J. Ariz. – Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 33(1).