Scleria pauciflora, known as few-flowered nutrush, papillose nut-sedge, and Carolina-whipgrass, is a plant in the sedge family (Cyperaceae) native to northern Mexico, the eastern United States, southern Canada, and Cuba.

[2][3] It is common across a broad stretch of the southeastern United States in many different habitat types, becoming rare at the northern end of its distribution.

[5] Three varieties are accepted:[2] It is listed as endangered in Massachusetts and Michigan and as threatened in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

[3] In Canada, it is only known from Ontario, where it is listed as an S1 species (Critically Imperiled).

[4] The variety Scleria pauciflora var.