Culms tinged reddish at base, 50–100(–130) cm. Leaves: sheaths ± hispidulous abaxially; ligules 3–30(–65) mm; blades light or glaucous green, (10–)20–60(–80) cm × 8–20(–23) mm, those of sterile shoots to 20 mm wide, glabrous adaxially except on veins toward apex. Spikes 5–8, narrowly oblong to slenderly cylindric; proximal spikes separate, pedunculate, others approximate, short-pedunculate or subsessile; staminate spikes 5–9.5 cm; pistillate spikes mostly ca. 40–470-flowered (405–705-flowered if branched), (1.5–)3.5–14 cm × (2.5–)3.5–6.5 mm. Pistillate scales from longer to shorter than perigynia, the proximal short-awned, others acute (or all mucronate to awned), entire. Perigynia brownish green, 2-ribbed, otherwise veinless or inconspicuously 1–7-veined, obovoid, subinflated, collapsing and becoming obtusely triangular, 2.4–3.1 mm, glabrous; beak 0.7–1.1 mm, erose (scarcely bidentulate). Achenes broadly obovoid, 1.5–1.7 × 1–1.3 mm.
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