Carex pumila, a widespread seacoast sandbinder in the Old World, was collected several times as a waif in Oregon shortly after the turn of the century and, more recently, at two sites in North Carolina. The collections were usually misdetermined as the European C. hirta. At least one of the North Carolina populations is still extant, although the site has been heavily disturbed. The plant is inconspicuous, and quite possibly more frequent than the few collections suggest. However, since it evidently has never spread beyond isolated, single colonies, it probably will not become a serious pest.