Rhizome creeping, emitting slender stolons. Stems solitary or somewhat tufted, erect or curved, triquetrous, smooth, often hidden in the leaf-sheaths, 2-25 cm by c. 1.5 mm, surrounded below the leaves by purplish cataphylls or their fibrous remains. Leaves subbasal, often recurved, longer than the stem, flattish or canaliculate, rigid, scabrid in the upper part, gradually attenuate into a firm point, 1.5-5 mm wide; sheath purplish. Inflorescence consisting of 5-15 spikelets, 2-10 cm long. Lower bracts foliaceous, much exceeding the inflorescence, shortly sheathing, upper much reduced. Spikelets suberect, 0.5-3 cm long, upper approximate on hardly or not exserted, smooth peduncles; lower sometimes distant on longer peduncles, terminal male, linear, 1-2 mm thick, lateral female or with a few male flowers at the top, cylindric, 3-4 mm thick, lowest solitary, upper in fascicles of 2-3 (at least one of the fascicles of 3). Glumes ovate or oblong-ovate, obtuse to emarginate, more rarely acute, reddish brown with whitish-hyaline margins, slenderly few-nerved, 2-3 mm long, the midrib excurrent in a mucro or in an up to 3 mm long awn. Utricles triquetrous, ovoid or ellipsoid, with flat faces, nerveless (except for two marginal nerves), glabrous, smooth, patulous, slightly recurved, finally dark brown, 2 1/3-3.5 by 9/10-1 mm, subabruptly narrowed into a smooth or sparsely hispidulous-margined 0.75-1 mm long beak; mouth subentire or bidenticulate. Nut ellipsoid or ovoid, triquetrous with flat faces, densely puncticulate, dilate-annulate at the apex, 1 1/3-1.5 by 4/5-1 mm. Style-base thickened. Stigmas 3.
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