Carex pulicaris is a small sedge, with stiff stems 10–30 centimetres (4–12 in) tall.

[1][2] As the utricles mature, they bend away from the spike axis and become sensitive to touch; the way the seeds appear to jump from the stem gives rise to the plant's vernacular name.

[1] Before the utricles have become deflexed, C. pulicaris closely resembles C. rupestris, with which it often grows.

[2] Carex pulicaris is found across much of Europe, from Spain to Estonia and north to Iceland and Fennoscandia, but excluding the Mediterranean region.

[4] Carex pulicaris was first described in Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum.