Rhizome shortly creeping, woody, like the stem-base clothed with brown or blackish, fibrous remains of old leaf-sheaths. Flowering stems lateral, approximate, subscapiform (bearing a few short-bladed leaves), triquetrous, smooth, 20-90 cm by ¾-2 mm. Leaves of the sterile shoots shorter than the flowering stems, stiffish, flat, rather abruptly acuminate, scabrid in the upper part, glaucous, 2-5 mm wide. Inflorescence a narrow panicle consisting of 6-12 head-like or racemose partial inflorescences, 10-50 cm long; partial inflorescences erect, subglobose to oblong-ovoid, with 1-8 spikelets, the lower ones single at the nodes, distant, on long-exserted, setaceous peduncles, the upper ones more approximate, unequally binate (rarely ternate); axis and top of peduncles scabrid. Bracts foliaceous with blades shorter than 8 cm, their sheaths ampliate, membranous near the mouth, the upper ones much reduced, infundibuliform. Spikelets androgynous, ovoid to subcylindric, sessile, 4-10 mm long, the male and female parts usually about equal in length. Glumes ovate or lanceolate, acutish to slightly notched, usually sparsely hispidulous towards the apex, 5-10-nerved, brown, often with reddish spots, whitish hyaline-margined, 2-3 mm long, the midnerve usually excurrent in a short, scabrid awn up to 1 mm long. Utricles obtusely trigonous, ellipsoid, subinflated, patent, straight, glabrous or sparsely hispidulous in the upper 1/3, strongly many-nerved, rather abruptly beaked, fuscous, 2.25-4 by 1-2 mm; beak ¾-1 mm long, bidenticulate. Nut trigonous, ellipsoid or obovoid, minutely stipitate, 2-2.25 by 1-1¼ mm. Style-base not thickened. Stigmas 3.
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Rhizome stoloniferous, woody. Culms lateral, 20-80 × 0.1-0.2 cm, trigonous, glabrous, base with brown sheaths. Leaves radical and cauline; radical leaves shorter than culms, several ones forming a high shoot, leaf blades linear, flat, 2-5 mm wide, base covered with brown sheaths; cauline leaves brown, spathelike. Involucral bracts spathelike, with linear blades, shorter than inflorescence branches. Panicle compound, with 6-12 distant branches; inflorescence branches subcorymbose, single or binate, 3-5-spiked; peduncles of inflorescence branches tenuous, erect, slightly scabrid; inflorescence axes loosely hairy on edges; bractlets glumelike, ca. 3 mm. Spikes bisexual, androgynous, patent, 4-10 mm; male part of spike nearly as long as or longer than female part; male glumes brown, lanceolate, 3-3.5 mm, glabrous; female glumes pale brown with dense purplish red spots and short lines, ovate to lanceolate, 2-3 mm, upper part loosely pubescent, margins hyaline, apex obtuse, mucronate. Utricles brownish green to purplish brown, patent, oblong, slightly inflated, trigonous, 2.5-4 mm, with several raised veins, hairy, apex contracted into excurved beak of medium length, beak ca. 1/3 length of utricle, orifice prominently 2-toothed. Nutlets elliptic, trigonous, 2-2.3 mm; style base not thickened; stigmas 3.
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