This is widespread in the Caribbean region and eastern states, north to the southern Great Lakes region and southern New England (K). It remains uncertain if the species should include S. nitida Willd. (see notes under that name below) and S. flaccida Steud. S. triglomerata is reported from a wide range of habitats, from grassy openings and thin grassy woods to "wet or mesic flatwoods, savannas and hardwood forests" (W). In Ky. triglomerata appears to be a somewhat conservative remnant of open woodland, usually on sandy or leached calcareous soils.and it occur mostly in areas that may have had a long history of frequent fire. Indeed, Scleria in general is virtually absent from the more rugged Appalachian hills and from the Bluegrass region; in both regions woodland was largely continuous before settlement, with little grassland.