Common or soft rush is frequently plant found in fresh marshes, wet meadows, and pond edges. It grows up to five feet in height, looking rather grass-like. Common rush grows in dense clusters with stems that look like leaves (in the photograph the red plant is smartweed). The green-brown flowers in the form of several branching clusters to one side of the stem tip. The flower is wind or self-pollinated and appears from June through August. Due to the wind pollination, common rush is known to cause allergies in humans.

Common rush is used as an indicator of water because it is located around the edges of water in wetlands. It is a food source for muskrats, moose, and whitetail deer. The common loon uses this rush for nesting materials and the pintail duck eats the seeds off this plant. Leaf beetles feed on the stems and garden spiders use these stems to support their webs. Both sunfish and bass use the base of common rush for spawning grounds. Humans use the stems in mat making and the pith is used for making candlewicks in Asia.