This grass is commonly found throughout all kinds of wetlands in North America, as well most of the world. Its most memorable features are its sharply serrated margin and rough textured leaf blades that slice through skin with remarkable ease. In shorelines it is found with Alisma subcoratum, Juncus torreyi, and Sagitaria latifolia; in fens, it is associated with Chelone glabra, Carex stricta, and Eutrochium maculatum; and in marhses it is found with Calamagrostis canadensis, Carex lacustris, and Iris virginica shrevei.