Scleria triglomerata

Hypogynium obviously present, covered with a rough white crust, not tuberculate; leaves 3-9 mm wide; achenes smooth, 2-3 mm long. S. minor is generally smaller, with leaves 1-2.5 mm wide and achenes 1.5-2 mm long. S. oligantha has the hypogynium yellowish rather than white, and supporting 8-9 small, round, granulose-spiculose tubercles. Shaded individuals of S. triglomerata may be distinguishable from S. oligantha only by the mature achenes. (Fairey 1967, Godfrey and Wooten 1981)

Scleria triglomerata occurs in a variety of dry to wet, open to partly open situations, often on sandy soil: pine lands, pine barrens, savannas, thickets, open woods, wood borders, meadows, fields, prairie, marsh borders, swamps (the last only listed for "Scleria flaccida"), Sphagnum bogs (listed for Pennsylvania only). (Fairey 1967, Fernald 1950, Gleason and Cronquist 1991, Godfrey and Wooten 1981, Hough 1983, McCance and Burns 1984, Radford et al. 1968, Read 1976, Rhoads and Klein 1993, Voss 1985). It occurs at 0 - 900 meters elevation (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 2002). When S. nitida is treated as a separate species its habitat is listed as usually dry (Hough 1983, Gleason 1952, Fernald 1950); when S. flaccida is treated as a separate species, its habitat is listed as wet or damp (Fernald 1950). Some authors consider S. minor to be a variety of this species; it is found in damp to wet situations similar to the above, and also bogs (Fairey 1967, Radford et al. 1968).

Pistillate and staminate spikes generally mixed within a given inflorescence. Virtually all Cyperaceae are wind-pollinated. The seeds have been found in the stomachs of various birds (Ridley 1930); they are thus probably distributed on birds' feet or feathers.