Annual with fibrous, yellowish roots. Stems very slender, tufted, often slightly curved, obtusely trigonous, smooth, 10-35 cm by ½-1 mm. Leaves very narrow, canaliculate, gradually acuminate, slightly scaberulous at the top, 1 mm wide; lower sheaths purplish. Inflorescence simple, spike-like or with a few short rays, congested, consisting of 2-15 spikelets. Involucral bracts 2(-3), suberect, over-topping the inflorescence, up to 10 cm. Spikelets suberect even in fruit, oblong to linear, acute, strongly compressed, up to 50(-70)-flowered, 2(-3½) cm by 2 mm; rachilla straight, wingless, persistent; internodes c. ½ mm. Glumes membranous, obliquely patent, sharply keeled, ovate, rather acute, shortly mucronate, with green, 3-nerved keel, stramineous to yellow nerveless sides and whitish hyaline margins, c. 2 by 1½ mm. Stamens 2; anthers linear, c. ½ mm. Style c. ¾ mm; stigmas 2, about as long as the style. Nut biconvex, laterally compressed, elliptic to slightly obovate, asymmetric, shortly apiculate, transversely rugulose, brown to blackish, 4/5-1 by 3/5-¾ mm; epidermal cells longitudinally oblong.
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