[2] Other common names include cottongrass bulrush[1] and brown woolly sedge.

[3] Woolgrass is not a true grass, despite its common name; it is a type of bulrush (Scirpus).

In general, it produces short, tough rhizomes and grows in dense clumps.

The inflorescence has upright or spreading branches bearing cymes of up to 15 spikelets each.

[2] This plant grows in many types of wet habitat, such as marshes and ponds.