Rhizome short, woody. Stems densely tufted, slender, erect, trigonous, smooth, (5-)15-60 cm by 1-1.5 mm, surrounded below the leaves by a few ferrugineous or brownish, bladeless sheaths or their fibrous remains. Leaves subbasal, shorter to longer than the stems, flat with often revolute margins, greyish green, scabrous towards the long-attenuated apices, (1-)3-8 mm wide; sheaths pale to ferrugineous, membranous in front. Lower bracts sheathing, leaf-like, usually overtopping the inflorescence. Spikelets (2-)3-5(-6), upper approximate, lower distant, cylindric, densely flowered; terminal spikelet male, sessile, pale, 1-2 mm thick, lateral ones female, suberect, dark, 1-4 cm by 3-5 mm, upper sessile or shortly peduncled, lower on short to long, firm, smooth peduncles. Glumes ovate or oblong-ovate, acute or subobtuse, thin, translucent, often minutely ciliolate, ferrugineous to castaneous with narrow whitish-hyaline margins and 3-nerved, pale green central stripe, muticous or scarcely mucronulate, 2-3 mm long. Utricles ellipsoid, compressed-trigonous, membranous, distinctly several-nerved, suberect to patulous, straight, glabrous but densely ferrugineous-papillose, scarcely stipitate, 2-3(-4) by 1-1¾ mm, subabruptly contracted into a very short, up to ½ mm long, entire or slightly emarginate beak. Nut ellipsoid or obovoid, triquetrous, shortly stipitate and beaked, 1.25-2 by ¾-1.25 mm, both stipe and beak usually bent. Style-base oblique, somewhat thickened. Stigmas 3 (rarely 2 in some fruits).
More
Rhizome slender, ligneous. Culms tufted, 30-55 cm tall, slightly thin, triquetrous, smooth, few yellowish brown and bladeless sheathed at base. Leaves shorter than culm, blades 3-6 mm wide, flat, smooth, sheathed. Involucral bracts leaflike, longer than inflorescences, sheathed, sheath rather long in lowermost part and short in upper part. Spikes 3 or 4, lowermost spike remote, others congregated at top of culm; terminal spike male, linear-cylindric, (1.5-)2-6 cm, nearly sessile; lateral spikes female, oblong-cylindric to cylindric, (1-)2-4 cm, densely many flowered, lower spikes rather long pedunculate, upper shortly pedunculate. Female glumes yellowish brown, with short ferruginous striae, oblong-ovate or ovate, ca. 2 mm, membranous, 3-veined and green on veins, apex acute or obtuse, sometimes mucronate. Utricles yellow-brown, becoming dark purple, obliquely patent, longer than glume, broadly obovate or nearly broadly elliptic, trigonous, 2.2-2.5 mm, membranous, densely purple papillate, 3-5-veined, base gradually attenuate and cuneate, apex abruptly contracted into a very short beak, orifice subtruncate or emarginate. Nutlets yellowish brown, tightly enveloped in utricle, broadly obovate or broadly elliptic, trigonous, ca. 1.5 mm, base abruptly contracted into a short stipe, apex with inflected mucro; style base not thickened; stigmas 3.
Home
