Plants densely cespitose. Culms dark maroon at base; flowering stems 30–90 cm, longer than leaves at maturity, 0.8–1 mm thick, glabrous but scabrous within inflorescence. Leaves: basal sheaths maroon, bladeless, glabrous on back; others grading from maroon to green on back, pale brown-hyaline and red dotted on front, pubescent near apex; blades flat, 2.8–7.2 mm wide, glabrous on both surfaces, margins smooth or finely scabrous. Inflorescences: peduncles of lateral spikes slender, 5–100 mm, finely scabrous; peduncle of terminal spike less than 15 mm, finely scabrous; proximal bracts equaling inflorescences or shorter; sheaths 10–70 mm; blades 1.5–3.5 mm wide. Lateral spikes 3–5, 1 per node, well separated, erect to nodding or drooping at maturity, pistillate with 10–40 perigynia attached 1–3 mm apart, narrowly oblong-cylindric, 10–50 × 4–5 mm. Terminal spike staminate or sometimes gynecandrous with a few pistillate flowers distally, 12–55 × 1–2 mm. Pistillate scales suffused with reddish brown to chestnut with hyaline margins and broad green midrib, ovate-oblong, shorter than mature perigynia, apex obtuse, acute, or sometimes mucronate, glabrous except scabrous midrib. Perigynia olive-green, copiously red dotted, conspicuously 10–12-veined, veins about equal in size, loosely enveloping achene, ovoid-ellipsoid to lance-ovoid, 4.6–9 × 1.2–2.2 mm, membranous to coriaceous, base with short stipe, apex tapering to very short beak, glabrous or short-pubescent; beak minutely bidentate, 0.3–0.8 mm, ciliate between apical teeth. Achenes distinctly stipitate, 2–2.5 × 1–1.5 mm, stipe 1–1.5 mm. 2n = 42, 44, 46, 48, 50.
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Densely tufted, 3–9 dm, purplish at base; main stem lvs 2–3 mm wide, those of the sterile shoots somewhat wider; staminate spike 2–3 cm, often with a few distal perigynia; pistillate spikes 2–4, spreading or nodding, slender-peduncled, at least the lower well separated, cylindric, 2–5 cm × 5 mm, densely fld, the perigynia separated by internodes 1–1.5 mm; pistillate scales oblong to ovate, half as long as the perigynia, ± red-tinged, obtuse to acute or mucronate; perigynia lanceolate, conspicuously nerved, tapering into a beak 0.5 mm; achene concavely trigonous, on a stipe 0.6–1.5 mm. Swamps and wet woods near the coast; N.Y. to Fla. and La. Var. venusta, with pubescent perigynia 6.4–8.1 (avg 7.2) mm, occurs from se. Va. to Fla. Var. minor Boeck., with glabrous perigynia 5.2–7.7 (avg 6.2) mm, occurs throughout the range of the sp. (C. oblita)
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