Herbs, annual, cespitose. Culms trigonous, 5-50 cm × 0.4-2 mm, glabrous. Leaves flat, 10-30 cm × 1-3 mm. Inflorescences: heads loosely globose, 10-22 mm diam.; rays 0-6, 1-7 cm; bracts 3-6, horizontal to slightly ascending, flat, 3-26 cm × 1-3 mm. Spikelets 6-20, linear-lanceoloid, compressed, 7-30 × 2-3 mm; floral scales 8-28, stramineous to light reddish brown, laterally ribless, ovate, 2.7-3.6 × 1.6-1.8 mm. Flowers: stamens 2; anthers 0.5 mm, connective apex reddish, subulate, 0.1-0.2 mm; styles 1.9-2.1 mm; stigmas 1-1.3 mm. Achenes brown, oblong, 1.2-1.6 × 0.6-0.9 mm, base cuneate to ± stipelike, apex obtuse, apiculate, surfaces minutely punctate. Fruiting summer. Swales between dunes, upper edges of tidal marshes, occasionally emergent shorelines, roadsides, inland ditches; 0(-50) m; Conn., Ga., Ill., La., Maine, Mass., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., R.I., S.C., Va.