Culms slender, glabrous. Leaves short, 2 mm wide, glabrous. Bracts glabrous. Staminate spikelets many flowered, clusters more than 1 cm. Tubercles entire or 2-lobed. Achenes 2-3 mm.

Fruiting spring-fall. Wet to dry sandy soil of thickets, pinelands, and disturbed areas; 0-300 m; Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex.; West Indies (Cuba).

Scleria ciliata var. glabra is restricted to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains; it grows primarily on the outer Coastal Plain.