Rhizome short. Stems tufted, rather stout, triquetrous, smooth, 50-100 cm by 3 mm at the base. Leaves subcoriaceous, mostly basal but sometimes one halfway up the stem, shorter than the stems, linear, long-attenuate, with strongly revolute margins, vesiculose-asperous by whitish vesicles especially on the upper surface, (3-)7-10 mm wide; lower sheaths reddish brown, densely but minutely hispidulous, eventually fraying into fibres. Inflorescence a slender, interrupted or sub-continuous, decompound panicle up to 50 cm long; partial panicles 4-12, at up to 8 nodes, mostly single, sometimes binate, oblong-lanceolate, erect, rather dense, 3-9 cm long, upper ones approximate, lower ones distant on slender, rigid, scabrid peduncles more or less exserted from the sheaths; rachis hispid. Lower bracts foliaceous, as long as or longer than the inflorescence, long-sheathing, upper much reduced; bracteoles glumiform, with hispidulous awns. Spikelets numerous, androgynous, oblong or ovoid, 5-12 mm long, the male part shorter than to about as long as the female part. Glumes broadly ovate, often broader than long, obtuse, translucent, glabrous or the lower ones hispidulous, pale fulvous to dark reddish, finely several-nerved, (¾-)1-1⅔ mm, the midnerve excurrent into a strong, antrorsely scabrid, up to 2 mm long awn. Utricles trigonous, not inflated, ellipsoid or slightly obovoid, membranous, patent, straight or more or less recurved, with (3-)4-6 strong nerves on each face, glabrous and smooth, or hispidulous on the margins in the upper part, subabruptly beaked, light green to stramineous, (2.5-)3-4 mm by 1-1¼ mm; beak slender, compressed, somewhat tapering, straight or slightly curved, scabrid on the margins, shorter than to about as long as the body of the utricle, (1-)1.5 mm long; mouth bidentate, not or scarcely oblique. Nut ellipsoid or slightly obovoid, triquetrous with shallowly concave sides, brown, 1.5-2 by 9/10-1 mm. Style-base slightly thickened. Stigmas 3.
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