Leaves 4-20 × 0.5-2.6 cm; blade bright yellowish green, linear-lanceolate. Scape 4-10 dm. Flowers: perianth white to creamy white, cylindrical, 7-10 mm, lobes spreading. Fruits: beaks abruptly narrowed distally. Flowering late spring--mid summer. Open sites of various habitats, moist bogs, dry to mesic prairies, and dry, upland woods and thickets; 0--2000+ m; Ont.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Miss., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va., W.Va., Wis.