Plants cespitose, long-rhizomatous. Culms 25-75 cm, distally scabrous. Leaves 2-3.5 mm wide. Inflorescences: proximal bracts shorter than, equaling, or exceeding inflorescences; spikes separate, erect, short-pendunculate, short-oblong or elongate, 10-25 × 6-10 mm; lateral 2-3(-4) spikes pistillate; terminal spike gynecandrous. Pistillate scales light to dark brown, lanceolate, shorter or much longer and narrower than perigynia, midvein lighter colored than body, conspicuous, often raised, prominent, apex acute or acuminate, mucronate, mucro 0.5-3 mm. Perigynia ascending, gray green or whitish, faintly veined, elliptic, 2.5-4 × 1.5-2 mm, apex beakless or abruptly beaked, densely papillose; beak to 0.2 mm. Achenes nearly filling body of perigynia. 2n = ca. 106. Fruiting May-Sep. Wet meadows, marshes, fens; 20-3000 m; Greenland; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B, Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Ont., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Ark., Colo., Conn., Del., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Mo., Mont., Nebr., N.H., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis., Wyo.; Eurasia. The plant reported by M. Raymond (1950) as Carex hartmanii Cajander is most likely this species (J. Cayouette, pers. comm.).