Rhizome short, stout, woody. Culms 50-70 cm tall, trigonous, thick, clothed at base with brown sheaths disintegrating into fibers. Leaves longer than culm, blades purple-brown, linear, 7-11 mm wide, many veined, scabrous abaxially, base usually plicate. Lower involucral bracts leaflike, longer than inflorescence, long sheathing, upper involucral bracts with short blades or setaceous or glumelike, shorter than inflorescence, nearly sheathless. Spikes numerous, 3-7 disposed in a head, androgynous, ovate-cylindric, male part 1/4-1/3 length of spike, almost without peduncles. Female glumes broadly ovate, ca. 2.5 mm, margins white hyaline, green 3-veined costa excurrent into a short mucro, apex acute. Utricles pale greenish, longer than glume, ovate-elliptic, flattened, trigonous, ca. 3 mm, membranous, densely white hispidulous, apex gradually narrowed to a beak, orifice sharply 2-toothed. Nutlets pale brown, elliptic, ca. 2 mm, compressed trigonous with faces slightly concave; style base thickened, scabrous; stigmas 3. Fl. and fr. Jun-Jul.
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