Culms 25-60 cm, scabrous distally, pilose. Leaf blades to 4-8 mm wide. Spikes: lateral spikes in distal 1/2 of stem, 5-17(-22) × 4-6 mm; terminal spikes 8-20 × 1.8-3 mm. Pistillate scales 3-veined, obovate-circular, 3-5 × 1.2-2.5 mm, apex acuminate, proximal scale almost as long as perigynia, with awn 0.5-2 mm. Perigynia 3.5-5 × 1.5-1.8 mm. Achenes sessile, 2.5-2.8 × 1.2-1.5 mm. 2n = 50. Fruiting late spring-early summer. Thickets, lowland forests, forested slopes; 0-1000 m; N.B., N.S., Ont., Que.; Conn., Del., D.C., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Mo., N.H., N.J., Ohio, Pa., R.I., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.