Densely tufted, lvs narrowly linear, mostly 4–15 cm × 1–2.5 mm, ascending, straight or slightly twisted, with pistillate or scabrous-tuberculate surface, dark green except at the dilated, soft, thin, keeled, anthocyanic base; scapes 0.5–3 dm, terete and slightly twisted below, usually 2–4-keeled just below the spike, the ridges papillate; spikes few-fld, less than 1 cm long; lateral sep shortly included, slightly curved, narrow, the thickened, narrow keel entire or slightly ragged or ciliate apically; seeds 0.8–1 mm, somewhat caudate, finely papillate-ridged, often some (or most) of them abortive. Sphagnum-bogs, tamarack-swamps, etc.; N.S. and s. Me. to Pa., w. to Mich., Wis., Minn., and s. Ont. Midsummer–fall.