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Tufts rather coarse, from a long creeping rhizome of c. 2 mm. diam. Culms 5–20 cm. long, terete, smooth, cream or light green, almost entirely enclosed by light brown or cream, occ. red-brown lf-sheaths; us. almost buried in sand. Lvs > culms, up to 40 cm. long, 1.5–3 mm. wide, channelled, rigid, glaucous, curved and tapering to a fine point, margins quite smooth. Spikes 3–7–(8), ± approximate; terminal spike male, often long-pedunculate, very slender, often with 1–3 very small, occ. partly female, spikes at the base; remaining spikes female, often male at the top, 1–3.5 × c. 1 cm. Glumes c. ½ length of utricles, rarely only slightly < utricles, ovate, acute, red-brown, with broad colourless hyaline margins, midrib very pale brown, thickened, us. produced to a short awn. Utricles 6–7.5 × 2–3.5 mm., biconvex to subtrigonous, ovoid, light brown, thick, corky, turgid, smooth or faintly nerved, narrowed to a bifid beak, 1.5–2 mm. long, orifice membr., crura faintly scabrid at tip. Stigmas 3. Nut 2.5–4 × 1.5–2.5 mm., trigonous, obovoid, light brown, shortly mucronate.
Plants colonial; rhizomes long-creeping. Culms central, slender, trigonous, 8–30 cm, smooth. Leaves: basal sheaths persistent, straw colored to dark brown, the youngest sometimes tinged reddish purple; ligules 0.2–1.3 mm, wider than long; blades somewhat glaucous, M-shaped, 1.5–3.3 mm wide, coriaceous, glabrous. Inflorescences 2.5–19 cm; rachis beyond proximal pistillate spike rounded-angled, smooth; proximal 1–3(–4) spikes pistillate, strongly overlapping, ascending to spreading; distal spikes erect; terminal 1–3 spikes staminate. Pistillate scales lanceolate to ovate, apex acute to acuminate-awned, scabrous-margined apically, glabrous. Perigynia ascending, ± distinctly 8–20-veined near base, thick-walled and corky, broadly ovoid, 4.5–8 × 2–3.5 mm, glabrous; beak 0.8–1.6(–2) mm, bidentulate, teeth straight, 0.2–0.7(–1) mm. 2n = 82.
Coarse tufts from a far-extending rhizome. Stems half buried in sand and much < grey-green leaves. Spikes 3-7, ± approximate. Utricles much > glumes, 6-7.5 mm long, corky, turgid, light yellow-brown, not or faintly nerved. Stigmas 3.
