| Author | (Rydberg) Rydberg | |
| Distribution | Mostly Mountains and northern Piedmont; scarce in the Coastal Plain and southern Piedmont.
Newf. to AK, south to FL, TX, and AZ. | |
| Abundance | Uncommon in the Mountains, and rare to quite uncommon in the Piedmont. Rare in the Coastal Plain. This is a Watch List species, despite a wide range; it certainly is scarce everywhere across the state. | |
| Habitat | Woodlands and forests, often near rivers or just above floodplains; creekside slopes, moist roadsides. Some less typical habitats: summit of Mt. Junaluska at 5,000 feet; pasture on olivine (Haywood County); base of rockledge (Madison County); near ferry by Cape Fear River (Bladen County); weed at wharf, Morehead City (Carteret County); waster place near Roanoke River (Martin County). Apparently favors rich, high pH soils. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting April-June. | |
| Identification | Slender Wedgescale and Prairie Wedgescale (S. obtusata) differ from our other 3 species in the genus in having more compact inflorescences with strongly ascending branches. The shape of the inflorescence of Prairie Wedgescale is narrowly elliptical or even cylindrical, whereas Slender Wedgescale's inflorescence is more open ("intermediate" in shape to the other 3 species, but with the spikelets more densely arranged). The second glume of Slender Wedgescale is 3-6 times as long as wide (vs. 1-3 times as long as wide in other species). | |
| Taxonomic Comments | By some authors treated as S. obtusata var. intermedia.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Slender Wedgegrass | |
| State Rank | S2 [S2S3] | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | W7 [W1] | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FAC link |
| USACE-emp | FAC link |
