Rhizome elongate, horizontal or ascending, woody, clothed with fibrous remains of sheaths. Flowering stems arising from the axils of the leaves, and often almost hidden among them, single or binate, scapiform, suberect, flexuous, obtusely trigonous, smooth, 10-50 cm tall, with sheaths and peduncles almost from the base. Leaves crowded on a short stem, much longer than the flowering stems, firm, flat, long-acuminate, scabrid on the margins, grey-or glaucous-green, 3-18 mm wide, surrounded at the base with fibrous remains of older leaves. Inflorescence racemiform or paniculiform, with 6-30 spikelets; spikelets androgynous, oblong-lanceolate, lax-flowered, 8-30 by 3-5 mm; male part much shorter than the female one. Bracts usually shorter than their spikelets, with funnel-shaped sheaths and short blades; peduncles sparsely scaberulous, lower exserted, upper included. Glumes ovate, amplexicaul, many-nerved, obtuse, ciliolate, often minutely appressed-hairy, whitish or stramineous, apiculate or mucronulate, 2.25-2¾ mm long. Utricles oblong-rhomboid to obovoid-fusiform, obscurely trigonous, suberect, densely many-nerved, subcoriaceous, sparsely puberulous, ciliolate-scabrid on the margins, stramineous-green, stoutly stipitate, abruptly shortly beaked, with oblique, bidentate mouth, 3.5-5.5 by 1.5-2 mm. Nut irregularly rhomboid-ellipsoid or oblong-obovoid, trigonous, with faces excavated at base and apex, broadly stipitate, seated on a spongy, disk-like body, c. 2 mm long; beak short, strongly deflexed; style bent upwards, thickened above, papillose. Stigmas 3. Vestigial rachilla sometimes present (according to Kukenthal).
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Rhizome long, woody, covered with dark brown fibrous remnants of basal sheaths. Flowering culms arising from axils of leaves, 12-30 cm tall, compressed trigonous, scapelike, flaccid. Leaves longer than culm, blades 6-15 mm wide, flat, smooth, leathery, margins scabrid. Involucral bracts bristlelike, sheathed, sheath 5-15 mm. Spikes 6-10, nearly all (at least terminal one) androgynous, oblong or cylindric, 8-25 mm, loosely flowered; male part short, 3-5 mm; peduncle 7-25 mm, slender. Female glumes pale brown to yellow-green, ovate-oblong, ca. 2.2 mm, costa green, apex acute or mucronate. Utricles yellow-green, longer than glume, oblong-rhombic to obovate-fusiform, obscurely trigonous, 4-5 mm, membranous, densely puberulent above and ciliate on margins, many veined, base cuneate, with a stipe ca. 1 mm, apex attenuate into a short beak, orifice minutely 2-toothed. Nutlets trigonous, rhombic, 2.5-3 mm, faces excavated in both upper and lower parts, angles constricted at middle; style base persistent, bent; stigmas 3. Fl. winter, fr. next spring.
In primary forests, on banks in woods, in open jungle, at low and medium altitude; in Malaya between 350 and 1200 m, in Banka at 40 m, in the Aru Is. at a few m above sea-level, in W. Java between 500 and 1250 m, in the Philippines ascending to 1000 m.
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