Scleria verticillata Muhl. ex Willd.

Distribution: Canada to Cuba

Habitat: Varied wet habitats

Florida status: Native

Recognition: Plants usually 6"-24" tall in moist open sites. Flower clusters congested and widely separated along an erect spike. Achenes warty and ribbed, white at first becoming black. Inflorescence resembles Scleria distans somewhat, but S. verticillata more or less glabrous on the spikelets (vs. highly pubescent) and not with the conspicuous downward orientation of the spikelets seen in S. distans.