Herb, dioecious, perennial, caespitose, forming few-or many-culmed tussocks. Cataphylls short, to 10 mm long. Culms erect, terete, smooth to finely striate, glabrous or pubescent with long hairs, to 70 cm high, 0.5–1.5 mm diam., internodes numerous; branchlets numerous, 3–16 per node, flexuose and often recurved, slender, to 16 cm long, longer than the internodes so that the upper culm is largely obscured by branchlets; lower branchlets longer than upper. Sheaths often reflexed, ovate to spathulate, 12–22 mm long, apex truncate; lamina 1.5–10 mm long. Male spikelets mostly borne singly, terminal or sessile and axillary on branchlets, ovoid, 4.0–6.0 mm long, 14–20-flowered; glumes 14–24, narrow-elliptic, acuminate, glabrous, 1.3–2.3 mm long, mucro 0.3–1.3 mm long. Female spikelets borne singly, terminal or sessile and axillary on branchlets, narrow ovoid, 5.5–7.7 mm long, 1-flowered; glumes 3–8, broadly ovate, acute, 2.3–5.5 mm long, brown, abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely pilose, mucro to 1.3 mm long. Male flowers: tepals 5, scarious, narrow lanceolate, acuminate, approximately equal in length, 1.7–2.6 mm long; anthers 0.8–1.4 mm long. Female flowers: 1–5 tepals occasionally present; ovary unilocular, style 1, mostly stigmatic. Nut ellipsoid, 1.5– 2.5 mm long, finely rugose, grey-brown with pale lateral lines, stipitate, the style base persistent as a short apical beak. Culm anatomy: chlorenchyma continuous.
Home