Fringed Sedge is found in wet to mesic woodlands as well as in swamps. It is a rhizomatous sedge with somewhat wide foliage. The seedheads are several inches long and droop down from the stem giving it a degree of ornamental value. It is found with Carex stipata, Saurrurus cernuss, and Viola blanda in swamps; and with Carex muskingumensis and Carex grayi in woodlands; and with Carex lacustris, Iris virginica shrevei, and Pycanthemum virginianum in marshes.