Plants not cespitose. Culms acutely angled, 15–60 cm, scabrous or glabrous. Leaves: basal sheaths brown; sheaths of proximal leaves glabrous, fronts lacking spots and veins, apex U-shaped; blades usually amphistomic, 2.8–4 mm wide, papillose or glabrous. Inflorescences: peduncle of proximal pistillate spike 0.6–1.7 cm; proximal bract equal to or longer than inflorescence, 2.5–5 mm wide. Spikes erect or the proximal pendent; proximal 2–4 spikes pistillate, 2.8–5 cm × 5–7 mm, base cuneate or attenuate; terminal 1–3 spikes staminate. Pistillate scales dark purple-brown, 2.5–5.5 × 0.9–1.8 mm (including awn), narrower than perigynia, midvein not reaching apex, 1/10–1/3 the width of scale, apex acuminate, aristate, awn scabrous. Perigynia ascending, pale brown, prominently 2–5-veined on each face, somewhat inflated, loosely enclosing achenes, thin-walled, widely ellipsoid to obovoid, 2.5–3.3 × 1.5–2.2 mm, dull, base with stipe to 0.2–0.5 mm, apex acute to rounded, papillose; beak weakly cylindric, 0.1–0.3 × 0.2–0.3 mm, entire. Achenes entire or slightly constricted on 1 face, apex rounded to slightly truncate, dull; style base straight to bent. 2n = 78, 79.