Rhizome very short, woody. Stems tufted, slender, erect, trigonous, smooth except on the angles above, 20-90 cm by ¾-1.5 mm, surrounded below the leaves by shining, fuscous to blackish, bladeless sheaths tending to split in front into reticulate fibres. Leaves shorter to longer than the stems, rigid, conduplicate, keeled, often flexuous at the long-attenuate top, scabrid, 1-2.5 mm wide when flattened out. Inflorescence with 4-6 fascicles of (1-)2-3(-5) spikelets, narrow, 5-15 cm long; fascicles approximate or lower somewhat distant. Spikelets erect (or some possibly slightly cernuous), linear-cylindric, simple, rather densely flowered, androgynous (female part considerably longer than to subequalling the male part), 1-4 cm long, upper sessile or subsessile on included peduncles, lower on included to long-exserted, smooth or scaberulous peduncles. Lower bracts setaceous, shorter to longer than their fascicles but usually much shorter than the inflorescence, suddenly widening into a spathaceous, strongly nerved, reddish brown base with membranous margins clasping the base of the spikelets, with ampliate, short or long sheaths; upper bracts much reduced. Glumes slightly shorter than utricles, oblong-lanceolate, acute to very obtuse, translucent, glabrous or very sparsely hispidulous on the midrib towards the apex, 3-nerved in the centre, ferrugineous to fuscous with rather wide, whitish-hyaline margins, muticous or apiculate, 4-6 mm long. Utricles narrowly elliptic, plano-convex (occasionally trigonous), membranous, slenderly multinerved, suberect, reddish brown, whitish-hispidulous on the margins in the upper half and often on the nerves, 3½-5½(-6.25) by 1-1.5 mm, contracted below into a stout, stipe-like base ½-1 mm long, rather gradually narrowed into a bidenticulate, 1.25-1¾ mm long beak. Nut elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or oblong-obovate, compressed-biconvex (occasionally trigonous), not stipitate, shortly beaked, brown, 1¾-2.25 by 1-1 1/3 mm. Style-base slightly thickened. Stigmas 2 (occasionally 3), 3-7 mm long.
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Rhizome short, without stolons. Culms densely tufted, 40-60 cm tall, triquetrous, scabrous on upper part of angles, clothed with dark brown sheaths at base, rudimentary sheaths usually disintegrating into fibers. Leaves basal, much shorter than culm, blades 2-3 mm wide, flat, ± stiff, scabrous on upper surface, rather shortly sheathed. Involucral bracts shorter than spike, lower ones shortly leaflike, upper ones setaceous, sheathed, lower sheaths slightly long. Spikes 5-8, 1-3 in an involucral bract sheath, upper spikes contiguous, lower spikes rather spaced, androgynous, narrowly lanceolate, 10-15 mm, male part shorter than female part, female part somewhat laxly flowered; peduncles mostly long and slender, upper peduncles rather short. Female glumes yellow-brown, narrowly oblong, costate, margins white hyaline, apex acute or obtuse, muticous. Utricles brown, suberect, equaling or slightly shorter than glume, elliptic, compressed trigonous, ca. 4 mm, membranous, thinly several veined, base abruptly contracted into a short stipe, margins hispidulous, apex gradually narrowed to a medium-sized beak, orifice 2-toothed. Nutlets tightly enveloped, elliptic, compressed biconvex, ca. 2 mm; style slightly short, base thickened; stigmas 2, rather long, persistent.
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