Plants 20-40 cm, copiously villous-ciliate with spreading hairs 0.5-1 mm on culms, leaves, and bracts. Fruiting summer-fall. Dry to mostly wet pinelands, savannas, mesic woods, meadows, bogs, and prairies; 0-500 m; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Miss., Mo., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Va.; Mexico. The illegitimate name Scleria caroliniana Willdenow has sometimes been used for this taxon. Scleria pauciflora var. caroliniana may be found in more disturbed sites than S. pauciflora var. pauciflora.