Rhizomes ascending to erect, 0-5(-30) mm. Staminate spikes 8.4-11.1 × 1-1.8 mm; staminate scales from median portion of spike 2.9-3.7 × 1-1.4 mm, with weak or strong midrib usually not reaching apex of scale, usually without teeth on midrib. Perigynia 2.5-3.3 × 0.9-1.1 mm; beak with apical teeth 0.2-0.3 mm. 2n = 36.

Fruiting mid Apr-early Jun. Mostly acidic, dry soils of sandstone and granite, also calcareous regions, wooded slopes, sandstone ridges, woodland clearings, in partial shade of deciduous forests, under cedars; 50-800 m; N.S., Ont., Que.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Vt., Va., W.Va.

Stems firm, erect, 2-5 dm, evidently surpassing the lvs; staminate scales ±blunt, the midrib distally weak or fading out; ±calciphile; Mass. to S.C., w. to Mich., Io., Nebr., and Okla. (C. artitecta; C. pensylvanica var. muhlenbergii; C. nigromarginata var. m.)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam

Common in dry open woods, especially on rocky white oak slopes; occasional in thickets or low woods. [Variety subtilirostris, with staminate scales of var. emmonsii but perigynia beaks 1.75-2 mm, pedunculate male spike, and erect culms, is] known in Indiana only from the type collection: Deam no. 54764, wooded slope along a small creek about 3 miles northwest of Clinton, Vermillion County, May 5, 1934.

......

Indiana Coefficient of Conservatism: C = 6

Wetland Indicator Status: UPL