Rhizome long creeping. Culms 10-70 cm tall, trigonous, smooth, clothed at base with brown sheaths. Leaves shorter than culm, 1/7-1/5 length of culm, blades pale green, (2-)3-5 mm wide, flat, slightly stiff, apex acuminate. Lowest involucral bract leafy, green, shorter than spike, sheathing, upper glumelike, dark purple-red. Spikes 2-5; upper 1 or 2 spikes male, oblong or ovate, 7-15 × ca. 6 mm, densely many flowered; peduncles pendent, slender, 0.5-2.5 cm. Female glumes dark purple-red, ovate-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 4-5 mm, with a light midrib, margins narrowly white hyaline, apex long acuminate. Utricles dark purple above, longer than glume, oblong or elliptic, compressed, 4.5-5.5 × 2.5-2.8 mm, glabrous, nerveless, base subrounded, apex abruptly contracted into a short beak, orifice white hyaline, 2-toothed. Nutlets loosely enveloped, oblong, compressed trigonous, 1.5-1.8 mm, base with a stipe 0.5-1 mm; style base not thickened; stigmas 3. Fl. and fr. Jul-Aug.
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