Plants with fibrous strands of leaves at base, 9--42.5 cm. Leaves erect from sheath, shorter than scapes, 6--24.5 cm; sheath 3.5--5 cm  1.5--5 mm, ligule not hoodlike, unlobed; blade 0.8--2.9 mm wide, apex acute. Inflorescences: scape often purple near base, mostly exceeding leaves, 5.5--27.2 cm  1--2.1 mm; racemes 5.1--21.4 cm  2--5 mm; pedicel 0.4--4.5  0.1--0.5 mm. Flowers: tepals elliptic, 1.1--1.6  0.7--0.9 mm, apex round; pistils 6, 3 fertile, 3 sterile. Fruits: fruiting receptacles with wings; schizocarps linear, 7--8.3  0.8--1.2 mm; mericarps linear, weakly ridged abaxially, 6.5--8.5  0.5--1.5 mm, beak erect, 0.3 mm. 2n = 24. Flowering summer and early fall. Coastal and mountain marsh areas and moist alkaline meadows; 0--3700 m; Greenland; St. Pierre and Miquelon; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Nunavut, Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Maine, Mich., Minn., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.Mex., N.Y., N.Dak., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.Dak., Utah, Wash., Wis., Wyo.; Mexico; South America; Eurasia.