Herb, dioecious, perennial, rhizomatous, forming diffuse patches to 2 m across. Rhizome 5–10 mm diam., with a dense pale brown tomentum covered by broad scarious red-brown scales 4–5 mm long. Cataphylls to 1 cm long. Culms 1–2 cm apart on the rhizome, terete, usually unbranched, smooth or slightly rugose, 90–180 cm long, 1.6–2.8 mm diam.; lower internodes short but upper to 10–13 cm long; sterile branches to 25 cm long usually present. Sheaths scarious, striate, closely appressed to the culm, 1.5–2.5 cm long; apex subacute or rounded, lamina absent, margin often narrowly membranous. Inflorescence to 25 cm long; spikelets 8–25 per culm on long 1–6 (–25) cm inflorescence branches, spikelets terminal on filiform pedicels up to 6 cm long; spathes closely appressed, often with a tuft of short, white hairs at the apex. Male spikelets ovoid, 4–8 mm long; glumes 20–60, 1.5–3.0 mm long, ovate-acuminate, aristate, red-brown, apically shortly ciliate; awn to 2 mm long. Female spikelets ovoid, 5–8 mm long, 3 mm wide; glumes 24–45, similar to males, 2.0–3.5 mm long, very shortly ciliate; awn 1.5 mm long. Male flowers: tepals 6, elliptic, inner and outer equal, c. 1.5–1.7 mm long, obtuse to acute; outer tepals apically pilose; filaments c. 1.6 mm long; anthers exserted, c. 1.0–1.2 mm long. Female flowers: tepals 4, similar to males, less pilose, acute to mucronate; tepals equal, 1.5–2.4 mm long; styles 2, very shortly united at base, recurved. Capsule circular in outline, compressed, c. 1.5 mm diam. Seed: mature seed not seen. Culm anatomy: epidermis with stomates slightly sunken, chlorenchyma of elongated peg cells, not interrupted by thick-walled cells, parenchyma sheath mostly one cell thick, central cavity present.
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