Plants loosely cespitose or with solitary stems; rhizomes ascending, brown, 0-5 mm, stout or absent. Culms 21-47 cm, scabrous distally; bases (remnants of old leaves) fibrous. Leaf blades green, shorter than culms, 2-3.5 mm wide, herbaceous to coriaceous, papillose to scabrous abaxially, papillose to slightly scabrous adaxially. Inflorescences with both staminate and pistillate spikes; peduncles of staminate spikes 1.1-10 mm; proximal nonbasal bracts leaflike, equaling or exceeding inflorescences. Spikes: proximal pistillate spikes 2-5 (basal spikes 0); cauline spikes with the proximal separated, with 4-10 perigynia; staminate spikes (5.3-) 9.6-26.2 × (1-)1.4-3.4 mm. Scales: pistillate scales whitish or pale brown to dark reddish brown, with narrow to broad white margins, ovate to lanceolate, 4.2-4.5 × 1.7-2.5 mm, equaling perigynia, apex acuminate or short-awned; staminate scales ovate to obovate, 6-6.2 × 1.6-2 mm, apex obtuse or acute to acuminate or short-awned. Anthers 2.2-3.3 mm. Perigynia pale green to yellow or pale brown, 10-25-veined to at least mid body, obovoid to globose, 3.1-4.2 × 1.5-2.4 mm, as long as wide; beak straight, pale green to pale brown, 0.4-1.1 mm, smooth, apical teeth 0.1-0.4 mm. Stigmas 3. Achenes brown, globose, round in cross section, 1.6-2.6 × 1.5-2.4 mm. Fruiting mid Jul-mid Aug. Open pine forests, mountain slopes, oak-fir forests, moist stream banks, steep ravines; 600-3300 m; Ariz.; Mexico. The two extremes in the morphologic variation in Carex turbinata are quite distinctive and may be correlated with latitude and elevation. An examination of specimens from across its range shows a continuum of variation in reproductive and vegetative characters.