The natural history of the northwoods . Male and female flowers in separate spikes, densely crowded perigynia swollen at the base and conspicuously beaked at the tip, and stems usually spongy-inflated at the base. A large, waterside, native, grasslike perennial. Eaten by waterfowl. A frost-tolerant, prolific seeder.
Forms indistict tussocks of dead or drying, fertile and old, and current and new shoots.
Lifespan 2-6 years. Most common in wet meadows, marshes, edges of lakes, ponds, and streams, and other riparian areas. The surface may be hummocky or mounded and in trough shaped or flat floored valleys. Grows best on gentle slopes. Sometimes a dominant species in floating mats.