Not a berry

They looked like berries. Tiny, black, bumpy berries, growing where no berries should be, above a clump of grassy leaves clinging to a dripping cliff face.

See them? Mostly, they blend into the black background.

I scrambled up the side of the cliff as far as I dared; it was slippery, and there were no firm handholds. But I got within arm's length of the clump.

Not grass, but a sedge. A tiny sedge.

I picked a few stems and brought them home to get a better look at them.

Sedge in an old Coke bottle.  Under a good light, and dried off, they're no longer black. The computer screen makes a good background.

It's a sedge. The stems have edges; as the mnemonic goes, "Sedges have edges, rushes are round." The largest head was I cm across. I had picked them from the base; the leaves grow from the lower end of the stem, and the fruiting heads stand above them. The tallest plant is about a foot tall.

But I hadn't seen these before, so I searched E-Flora BC for a local sedge. I never knew there were so many species! 28 distinct sedges here in BC!

The only one that looks like it might possibly be a match is Carex macloviana, Falkland Island sedge, although the photos are iffy. Most of the others have much larger heads, or long or drooping heads. Or they grow on the far side of the mountains, in drier country.

Close-up of heads. The sprinkles below are seeds.

Drawing from The Ilustrated Flora of British Columbia

Found on Berry Creek Road, about half-way to the first switchback.