Culms sharply trigonous, (10–)20–80 cm; bladeless basal sheaths brown, strongly fibrillose. Leaves: sheaths tight, pale green to reddish brown abaxially, whitish to brown stained and ± hyaline adaxially, glabrous; ligules 0.6–2.8 mm, rounded to obtuse; blades flat, convolute or revolute, 7–40 cm × 1–2.5(–3.3) mm wide, glabrous. Inflorescences oblong to linear-oblong, (1.6–)2.5–7 cm × 8–15 mm; proximal bracts leafy, 9–27 cm, sheathless, with prominent hyaline margins basally; distal bracts gradually reduced; spikes 3–6, distal 2 or 3 ± approximate, (5.5–)8–22 × (4.5–)5.5–11 mm. Pistillate scales with strongly 3-veined, green to brown center and whitish translucent sides, oblong-lanceolate, exceeding perigynia and mostly concealing them, apex awn, when present, to 2 mm, glabrous. Staminate scales oblong-lanceolate, apex acute or short acuminate. Perigynia, green or usually brown tinged, prominently 8–16-veined, (3.3–)3.5–4.6 × 1.4–1.8 mm, thick-coriaceous, granular-warty, white stellate-hirsute. Achenes obovoid to broadly-ellipsoid, 2–2.4 mm.