Carex ecklonii Nees

Perennial herb, tufted, 0.17-0.70 m high. Leaf blades 80-340 x 2.5-4.0 mm, channelled or plicate, glabrous. Culm nodose, 3-angled, 1-2 mm in diam. Bracts 1 at each node, leaf-like. Spikes 4 or 5, largest 15-22 x 7-10 mm, apical spike male, lowermost 3 or 4 spikes female. Female bracts (glumes) shorter and narrower than perigynium, ovate, 4.2-5.0 x 1.8-2.2 mm, keel excurrent into 0.8-2.0 mm long scabrid awn. Perigynium suberect, stalked, 4.5-5.5 x 1.8-2.5 mm, 3-angled with rounded base, inflated, green, or stramineous, cartilaginous, glabrous, nervose; rostrum 0.71.2 mm long, apex shallowly bidentate. Flowering time Dec. Nutlet obovate, narrowly clawed, 2.5-3.2 x 1.5-2.0 mm, 3-angled, dark brown, surface minutely papillose.