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.

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.

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.

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