Herb, dioecious, rhizomatous perennial, forming dense, erect, many-culmed tussocks to 15 cm or more across at base. Rhizomes shortly horizontal or ascending, 2–4 mm diam.; scales appressed, brown. Culms not dimorphic, crowded on the rhizome, erect, rigid, ± terete, unbranched, 50–100 cm long, 1–2 mm diam., striate, glabrous; internodes several, c. 5–12 cm long. Sheaths closely appressed, 1.5–2.5 cm long, scarious, smooth to striate, red-brown to brown, becoming weathered and darker with age; apex obtuse, rarely apically pilose; lamina small or absent; membranous margin indistinct. Inflorescence of 2–10 spikelets, or rarely a single terminal spikelet. Spikelets arising singly from the sheath axil; pedicels filiform, to 5 (–9) cm long, those of lower spikelets longer than upper pedicels; female spikelet pedicels often short and more rigid than males. Spathes similar to sheaths but shorter. Male spikelets ovoid, 5–10 mm long, 3–5 mm wide. Female spikelets ovoid when young, elongating to cylindrical and 5–20 mm long. Male glumes: lower 1 or 2 sterile, c. 40–60 upper fertile, broad-lanceolate, dark brown, glabrous or rarely apically ciliate, acute to subulate, 2.0–3.1 mm long; awn slender, erect or spreading 1–4 mm long. Female glumes: 4–40 fertile glumes, 2–4 mm long; awn 1–4 mm long. Male flowers: tepals 6, linear-lanceolate, acute, glabrous, light to dark brown; 2 outer tepals keeled, rarely the keel pubescent; the 3rd outer tepal flat, glabrous, 2.0–3.2 mm long; 3 inner tepals flat, 1.8–3.0 mm long; stamens 3; filaments 1.8–3.0 mm long; anthers 1–2 mm long. Female flowers: tepals 6, similar to males, glabrous; staminodes 3; styles 2, shortly connate at the base, almost wholly stigmatic. Capsule c. 1.5–2 mm long, smooth, brown. Seed oblong-cylindrical, c. 1.0–1.2 mm long, ribbed with narrow, widely spaced ridges. Culm anatomy: chlorenchyma interrupted by pillar cells opposite outer vascular bundles.
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