Stems stiff, erect, to 1 m, smooth or scabrous only at the summit, solitary or few together from a freely rooting base, the plant also with more slender, spreading rhizomes; blades flat, elongate, 2–4 mm wide; foliaceous bracts 2(3), unequal, much exceeding the infl; spikelets several, on short subequal pedicels, forming a crowded cluster; scales relatively thick and firm, coppery or brown, obtuse or acute, prominently 3–7-nerved; bristles tawny or coppery, seldom white; anthers 1–1.5 mm; achene 3–3.5 mm, a third as wide; 2n=58. Swamps and bogs; abundant; Nf. and Que. to Man. and Minn., s. to Fla. and Ky. Fr Aug.–Oct.