Carex jamesii is a sedge native to North America from Minnesota east to New York and south to Oklahoma and South Carolina. It occurs in mesic hardwood forests and flowers from early May to mid July. For its genus, it is a distinctive species when in flower. It has two to four perigynia that are subtended by leaf-like pistillate scales. Its seeds are dispersed by ants. Within the genus Carex, Carex jamesii is in the section Phyllostachys and is most closely related to C. juniperorum.