Erect, 1–5 dm, light green and glaucescent, drying pale, or deep green and drying dark; stems usually stout, flattened and winged; 1.5–3+ mm wide, the margins minutely denticulate, as also the lvs; largest lvs 2–3 mm wide; spathes mostly solitary at the summit of the simple stem, mostly not geniculate, usually green, the outer bract 3–7 cm, it s margins connate for 2–5 mm near the base, the inner bract much shorter, 1.5–3 cm; tep 8–12 mm, bright violet; fr 4–6 mm; 2n=32, 96. Sandy open ground and meadows; Que. to Alta., s. to N.Y., N.J., Pa., and Nebr., and along the mts. to Va. and N.C. (S. angustifolium, misapplied) The phase with the herbage blackening in drying has been called var. crebrum Fernald.
A herb that forms clumps. The stems are flat or 2 sided. It has wings along the edges. The leaves are 3 mm wide. The capsules are 5-6 mm long.