Plants with basal sheaths of previous year not persistent. Culms easily compressed, to 120 cm × 7 mm, scabrous. Leaves: sheaths usually all with blades, green; fronts rugose, indistinctly linearly veined, apex colorless, fragile, convex, not forming extension, erose; ligules acute, 10 mm, free limb to 0.8 mm; blades not epistomic, to 100 cm × 15 mm. Inflorescences densely spicate, elongate, cylindric, with 15–25 distinguishable branches, 5–15 × 4 cm; proximal internode to 10 mm. Scales hyaline. Perigynia pale brown with red-brown veins, 15-veined abaxially, 7-veined adaxially, to 6 × 2 mm, base distended proximally, cordate; stipe to 0.4 mm; beak to 3.5 mm, serrulate. Achenes ovate, to 2 × 1.5 mm; stalk to 0.3 mm; persistent style base cylindric.

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora): North America, e Asia.

Lower Taxa

• Carex stipata var. maxima Chapman ex Boott
• Carex stipata var. stipata