Rhizome short. Culms tufted, 30-50 cm tall, slender, usually weak, slightly scabrous. Leaves shorter than culm, blades pale green, linear, 1-2 mm wide, flat, soft. Lower involucral bracts leaflike, surpassing inflorescence, upper involucral bracts setaceous or glumelike. Spikes 4-10, gynaecandrous, ovate, 4-6 × 4-5 mm, upper 3-5 spikes congested, remaining spikes remote. Female glumes light ferruginous, narrowly ovate, ca. 2.5 mm, green 1-veined, margins broadly white hyaline. Utricles green, yellow-green at maturity, longer than glume, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, ca. 3 mm, membranous, distinctly many veined on both faces, upper margins finely serrulate winged, apex gradually narrowed into a beak, beak rather deeply cleft abaxially, 2-toothed at orifice. Nutlets tightly enveloped, elliptic-ovate, plano-convex, ca. 1.5 mm, base shortly stipitate, apex subrounded; style base thickened; stigmas 2. Fl. and fr. Jun-Jul.