Description: This native perennial sedge is
½–2' tall and unbranched. The central stem is erect, 3-angled, and
mostly covered by the sheaths of the leaves. The leaves tend to congregate
toward the base of the plant. The leaf blades are up to 1½' long and
1/3" across; they are light green and glabrous, spreading outward from the
stem. There is a conspicuous channel along the central vein of each leaf blade,
especially the larger ones. The leaf sheaths are whitish green, closed, and
hairless; sometimes they become pale red toward the base of the plant. The
central stem terminates in an umbel or compound umbel of floral spikes; the
size and shape of the umbel is rather variable (on larger plants, it is usually
several inches across). Each umbel has 1-3 sessile spikes and 6-10 non-sessile
spikes on straight branches of varying length. At the base of each umbel
or compound umbel of
spikelets, there are several leafy bracts of varying length; the largest bract
is usually longer than the inflorescence. Each floral spike is about 2-3" long,
consisting of 4 ranks of spikelets along its central stalk (or rachis). The
central stalk is flattened and narrowly winged. The spikelets are perpendicular
to this stalk and about ½–¾" long. The spikelets are yellow
to golden brown, narrowly linear, and flattened in shape; they consist of 10-30
florets and their scales. The overlapping scales are appressed or slightly
spreading along the length of each spikelet; each scale is 2.0–3.0 mm. in
length. Each floret has a white tripartite style and yellowish brown anthers;
the tips of the styles are curly. The blooming period occurs from mid-summer to
early fall. Pollination is by wind. The florets are replaced by small achenes
that are 1.0–1.5 mm. long, oblongoid or oblongoid-obovoid, and flattened.
The shallow root system is fibrous, rhizomatous, and tuberous. The white
rhizomes have a slightly segmented appearance from the brown margins of their
outer membranes; the rhizomes are connected to small globoid tubers up to
½" across. Young tubers are white, while older tubers are covered by a
brown outer membrane; they are usually found within 6" of the ground surface.
Vegetative colonies of plants are often produced from the tubers and their
rhizomes.