Herb, dioecious, perennial, rhizomatous, tufted. Rhizome shortly horizontal, but plants forming patches to 80 cm across; scales pale brown. Culms terete, slender, 15–45 cm long, 0.5–0.8 mm diam., usually simple but occasionally branched, branches semi-terete, often flexuose; internodes 4–6, rarely more, 5.0–7.5 cm long. Sheaths scarious, ribbed, red-brown; sheaths 6.5–15.0 mm long, acute or obtuse, often with axillary hairs, and at least some of them with a small linear to subulate, erect or reflexed lamina to 2 cm long. Spikelets solitary and terminal or up to 6 on the culm; spathes similar to the sheaths, or the lamina reduced and the spathe more lax. Male spikelets ovoid to globose, 4–6 mm long; lower 2–4 glumes sterile, upper 15–45 glumes fertile, elliptic to ovate, acuminate to caudate, 2–3 mm long, golden-brown, margin with short to long hairs; mucro 0.3–1.0 mm long. Female spikelets narrower than males, ellipsoid to ovoid, 4.0–6.5 mm long; lower 3 or 4 glumes sterile, upper 5–18 glumes fertile, glumes similar to males. Male flowers: tepals 6, acuminate; outer tepals lanceolate, slightly longer, 1.9–2.3 mm long, occasionally with a few apical hairs; inner tepals narrow elliptic to oblong; filaments 2.3–2.8 mm long; anthers 1.0–1.2 mm long, exserted. Female flowers: tepals 4, lanceolate to elliptic; outer tepals rarely with apical hairs; inner tepals slightly longer, 1.8–2.2 mm long. Capsule globose, c. 1.2–1.3 mm long. Seeds ellipsoid, brown, smooth, c. 0.8 mm long.
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