Herbs, perennial, rhizomatous, (3--)4--10 dm. Rhizomes 1--3 mm diam., with swollen nodes. Culms erect, terete, 3--5 mm diam., smooth. Cataphylls 0. Leaves: basal 1--3, cauline 2--5, auricles 1--4 mm, apex rounded, scarious; blade strawberry-colored, green, or pink, terete, 13--30 cm x 1--5 mm. Inflorescences terminal clusters of 1--23 heads or single heads, 2--5.5 cm, branches spreading; primary bract erect to ascending; heads 25--100-flowered, globose, 10--15 mm diam. Flowers: tepals green to straw-colored, occasionally reddish, lanceolate-subulate; outer tepals (3.7--)4--6 mm, apex acuminate; inner tepals (3--) 3.4--4.6 mm, apex acuminate; stamens 6, anthers 1/2 filament length. Capsules equaling perianth or slightly exserted, straw-colored or chestnut brown, 1-locular, lance-subulate, 4.3--5.7 mm, apex tapering to subulate tip, valves separating at dehiscence, fertile throughout or only proximal to middle. Seeds oblong to ellipsoid, 0.4--0.5 mm, not tailed; body clear yellow-brown. 2n = 40. Fruiting early summer--fall. Wet sandy shores, edges of sloughs, along slightly alkaline watercourses, swamps, sometimes on clay soils, calcareous wet meadows, and alkaline soils; 0--600; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Ont., Que., Sask.; Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis., Wyo.; Mexico (Baja California, probably elsewhere in n Mexico).

Plant: Rhizomatous perennial graminoid; stems round in cross-section to 90 cm Leaves: 1-3 linear stem leaves 15-20 cm long extending at 30-40 degree angle from stem apex Flowers: inflorescence a head-like cluster of flowers, greenish-brown.