Plants densely cespitose; rhizome internodes 1.2–2 mm thick. Culms dark purple-red to 2–3.2 cm high or rarely brown at base, 15–90 cm. Leaves: sheaths glabrous; blades green, widest blades (3.7–)4.2–8.2(–9.1) mm wide, smooth abaxially. Inflorescences 0.38–0.85 of culm height; peduncles of lateral spikes smooth or barely scaberulous; peduncles of terminal spikes 1.6–22(–51) mm, usually barely exceeding lateral spikes; proximal bract sheath loose, abaxially glabrous, sheath front slightly concave to slightly convex, elongated 0.7–2.5(–4.4) mm beyond apex; ligules (1.8–)3–7.5(–11.2) mm; distal bract slightly exceeding or rarely much exceeding terminal spike. Spikes (3–)4–5(–6), distal 2–4 overlapping; lateral spikes pistillate or rarely androgynous, with 3–19 perigynia, 5–31 × 6.7–11.4 mm, ratio of spike length (in mm) to flower number =1.6–2.1(–2.8); terminal spikes 7–35 × 1.5–3.1 mm. Pistillate scales 4–8.2 × 2.1–2.6 mm, margins whitish, usually with red-brown speckles, entire, apex with awn 0.9–5.3 mm. Staminate scales 2.7–5 × 1.1–2.1 mm. Anthers 2.3–3.3 mm. Perigynia spirally imbricate, 52–64-veined, unwrinkled, narrowly ellipsoid to obovoid, orbicular or suborbicular in cross section, (4.2–)4.5–5.1(–5.3) × (1.8–)2–2.6 mm, 1.8–2.3(–2.6) times as long as wide, lustrous, base very gradually tapered, apex gradually tapered; beak absent or straight, 0–0.2 mm. Achenes broadly obovoid to obovoid, widest at 0.6–0.66(–0.7) of body length, (2.6–)3.1–3.5(–3.7) × 1.7–2.1(–2.2) mm, loosely enveloped by perigynia; stipe straight, (0.2–)0.3–0.4(–0.5) mm; beak straight, (0.2–)0.3–0.6 mm.
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