Rhizome short or shortly creeping, woody. Stems erect, trigonous, smooth, up to more than 1 m by 0.5-3 mm below. Leaves basal and up to 3 higher on the stem, shorter than the stem, stiff, flat or with slightly revolute margins, with scabrid margins and asperous upper surface towards the long attenuate apex, 2-7 mm wide; sheaths usually reddish or purplish, glabrous, with concave to convex mouth, the basal ones fraying into fibres. Inflorescence an often interrupted slender panicle to 50 cm long, consisting of 3-8 fascicles, lower fascicles distant, upper approximate. Lower bracts foliaceous, shorter to longer than their fascicles but much exceeded by the stem, long sheathing, upper much reduced; sheaths similar to those of the stem. Lower spikelets often single or binate, upper 2-6 together, often branched into 2-6 secondary spikelets, all androgynous, the male part from much shorter to longer than the female part, 2-8 cm by 2-3.5 mm, much exserted from their sheaths. Glumes oblong-ovate, obtuse to emargi-nate, glabrous or sparsely hispidulous towards the apex, dark red with wide white hyaline margins, nerved, 2-3.5 mm long, the midrib excurrent into an up to 2 mm long hispidulous awn. Utricles trigonous, oblong to ellipsoid, slenderly nerved to nerveless except 2 submarginal nerves, dark red, reddish or brown, straight or slightly curved, glabrous or hispidulous, at least above, the margins sparsely hispidulous from the middle or above the middle upwards, 3-6 by 3/5-1 mm, gradually tapering into a hispidulous margined, 1-2 mm long bidentate beak. Nut triquetrous, ellipsoid, with flattish or concave faces, brown or fulvous, stipitate, 1.5-3.5 mm long. Style-base slightly thickened. Stigmas 3.
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