Herb, dioecious, caespitose perennial, forming small clusters of culms; the base with a pale woolly pubescence. Cataphylls appressed, pale brown, 1–2 cm long. Culms not dimorphic, few, erect, straight, terete or slightly compressed, unbranched, 40–100 cm long, c. 1 mm diam., striate, glabrous. Sheaths closely appressed, 1.6–2.2 cm long, striate, light-brown to straw-coloured, tapering into a filiform lamina (2–) 4–7 mm long; upper sheaths usually apically ciliate. Inflorescence with the lower spikelets on long (1–5 cm) filiform pedicels in a cluster in the axil at one or more upper culm nodes; upper flowers singly on short (1–10 mm) pedicels at successive upper culm nodes. Male spikelets ovoid to globose, 4–5 mm long, 3–5 mm wide. Female spikelets similar to males. Male glumes: lower 15–38 sterile, upper 4–14 fertile, oblong-ovate to spathulate, apex sparsely ciliate, 1.5–2.5 mm long; mucro filiform, erect or spreading, 1.5–3 mm long; uppermost c. 5 glumes smaller and sterile. Female glumes similar to males, lower 15 –20 sterile, upper c. 6 fertile; uppermost c. 5 glumes small and sterile; the awns weathering away in fruit. Male flowers: tepals 6, red-brown; 2 outer tepals keeled, sparsely pilose along keel; lanceolate, usually obtuse, 2.2–2.8 mm long; inner tepals and 3rd outer tepal, glabrous, 1.9–2.7 mm long; stamens 3; filaments 2.5 mm long; anthers c. 1.2 mm long. Female flowers: tepals similar to males, glabrous; staminodes 3; styles 2, free, almost wholly stigmatic. Capsule c. 2.5 mm long. Seed ellipsoid, white, 1.9 mm long, colliculate with lines of large convex cells overlain by a network of narrow ridges. Culm anatomy: chlorenchyma interrupted by pillar cells opposite outer vascular bundles.
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