It is a weed found in most agricultural crops. Infestations often start in low, wet areas of the field, and then spread, but nutsedge can grow in well drained soils as well. It is important to stress that this is a sedge and not a grass despite its similarity to grass. The unique characteristic that distinguishes nutsedge from grass is the fact that it has three ranked leaves - making the stem triangular. This is easy to observe just by feeling the stem with your fingers or by cutting the stem off with a knife and looking down the cut surface - it will be obviously triangular.
Most plants grow from over-wintered tubers germinating near the soil surface.
Nutlet formation begins in late June, and continues until early fall. The tubers are white at first, but gradually darken to black by the end of the season. One plant can produce hundreds or even thousands of nutlets before the top of the plant dies in late summer or early fall. Each of these nutlets will grow into a new plant, but not until they have gone through a chilling period - which means the next season. Some nutlets can survive in the soil for several years until they are finally exposed to the right conditions for growth.