Scheuchzeriaceae

Non-woody (herbaceous) aquatic perennials of bogs and peaty shores, growing from creeping jointed rhizomes. Stem angled upward, zigzag. Leaves mostly along stem but also basal, alternate, linear, grass-like, erect, with broad dilated sheaths at base, nearly round in cross section and tubular toward the tip with a distinctive open pore at at the very tip.

Flowers in a loose raceme at top of stem, pollinated by wind. Flower stalks with bracts. Sepals and petals each 3, yellow-green, similar. Stamens 6, separate, with short stalks and a long pollen-producing structure at top (anther). Carpels 3, slightly united at base, spreading at maturity; style none; stigma 1/carpel, flat, facing outward. Fruit a cluster of 3 inflated beaked capsules, each curved outward with 1 or 2 seeds.