This perennial rush forms a moderately dense to loose tuft of basal leaves, from which one or more flowering culms develop. Withered remnants of the preceding year's leaves are typically present. The blades of basal leaves are up to 8" long and 7 mm. across; they are pale to medium green with stiffened tips that are hull-shaped. The blades of basal leaves are hairy toward their bases and along their margins; these hairs are long, soft, and white. The culms are 4-16" long, light green, terete, glabrous, and straight. Along each culm, there are 2-3 alternate leaves. The leaf sheaths are light to medium green, mostly glabrous, longitudinally veined, and closed. At the throat of each sheath (where it joins the blade), there is a tuft of hairs; these hairs are long, soft, and white. The blades of alternate leaves are up to 5" long and 6 mm. across; they are pale to medium green with stiffened tips that are hull-shaped. Each culm terminates in an umbel of 3-12 flower clusters. The rays (floral stalks) of this umbel are nearly zero to 3" long and erect to ascending; they are straight, light green, and terete. The rays are divergent by less than 60º. Individual flower clusters are 6-13 mm. long and 5-6 mm. across; they are usually short-cylindric in shape, consisting of a dense cluster of 6-16 flowers. Each flower consists of 6 scaly tepals, 6 stamens, and a pistil. The tepals are 2.5-4.0 mm. in length and lanceolate in shape; they are initially light green to brownish yellow, becoming light to dark brown with age. However, the margins of the tepals are white-membranous. At the base of each flower or flower cluster, there are one or more chaffy bractlets that are less than 3 mm. in length. At the base of the inflorescence, there is a leafy bract up to 2" long, resembling a small leaf blade. The blooming period occurs during mid- to late spring, lasting about 1-1½ weeks. The flowers are cross-pollinated by the wind. Afterwards, the ovaries develop into seed capsules that are a little shorter than the tepals. These capsules are obovoid-globoid and somewhat 3-lobed longitudinally, terminating abruptly into a very short beak. At maturity, each capsule splits open into 3 sections from the top, releasing 3 seeds. These seeds are small and light enough to be blown about by the wind. Individual seeds are about 1.5 mm. in length (excluding their food appendages), broadly ellipsoid in shape, and dark brown. Attached to one end of each seed, there is a white food appendage about 0.5 mm. in length. The root system is fibrous, occasionally forming clonal offsets.
