Rhizome short or elongate and obliquely ascending. Culms densely or loosely tufted, 25-40 cm, slender, ca. 1.5 mm thick, triquetrous, slightly scabrous, subrigid. Leaves shorter than or equaling culm, flat, blades 2-3 mm wide, slightly stiff, brown or dark brown and persistent sheathed at base, sheaths usually disintegrating into fibers. Involucral bracts spathelike, sheaths brown on lower part, green abaxially, white hyaline on margins, involucral bract leaf short or setaceous. Spikes 3 or 4, lowermost one slightly remote, others approximate or all spikes rather remote; terminal spike male, surpassing adjacent female spike, clavate-cylindric, 8-20 mm, ca. 3 mm thick, densely several or many flowered; lateral spikes 2 or 3, female, oblong or oblong-cylindric, 1-2 cm, 3-3.5 mm thick, loosely or densely many flowered; peduncles usually not exserted or slightly exserted from involucral bract sheath; rachis erect. Female glumes brown or brown-red laterally, green at middle, obovate, ovate, ovate-oblong, or oblong, 4-4.5 mm, papery, 1-3-veined, margins broadly white hyaline, apex obtuse or acute, mucronate or aristate. Utricles greenish, slightly shorter than glume, obovate or obovate-oblong, obtusely trigonous, 3.5-4.5 mm, densely white pubescent, nerveless or indistinctly shortly veined abaxially, 2-veined laterally and thinly several veined or shortly veined adaxially, rarely nerveless or convexly several veined on both surfaces, base gradually narrowed to a long stipe, apex rounded, abruptly contracted into a recurved and short beak, orifice emarginate. Nutlets yellow-brown at maturity, obovate, trigonous, 2.5-3 mm, base shortly stipitate, apex with very short and recurved beak; style base thickened; stigmas 3. Fl. and fr. May-Sep.
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