In sandy aspen and red pine forests, often along edges, sandy beech-maple and hemlock-hardwoods, especially on hummocks, roadside clearings and open rocky forests; usually in drier soils than other Laxiflorae.

From all our other members of section Laxiflorae, this can be distinguished by its unique papillose margins to the bract sheaths (use 20x). The perigynia have a sharply bent beak, somewhat like that of Carex blanda but very short; the spikes are also more loosely flowered.

Carex woodii, C. meadii, and C. tetanica might possibly run here or to C. laxiflora in the keys, if they were not recognized as belonging to sect. Paniceae. Even if the prominent superficial rhizomes of C. woodii are not collected, the species can be distinguished in its very strongly red-colored basal sheaths. Carex tetanica and C. meadii, besides deep-seated elongated rhizomes, have the sides of the rachis of the pistillate spikes minutely papillose-granular, while in the somewhat similar species of sect. Laxiflorae the rachis is smooth, at least on the sides.