Herb, dioecious, rhizomatous, perennial, often with several ascending culms arising in a tuft but connected by long rhizomes; rhizomes slender, 1.2–2.2 mm diam., sometimes pubescent when young, mostly glabrous except for tufts of pale hairs in scale axils; cluster and sand-binding roots present. Scales and cataphylls appressed, dark brown; cataphylls similar to the lower (larger) scales; scales 5–15 mm long, oblong or oblong-obcuneate, truncate with a slender lamina c. 2–3 mm long. Culms continuous with rhizomes, horizontal and subterranean for up to c. 30 cm before ascending; aerial portion erect, terete, smooth to substriate, glabrous or pubescent, with long villous hairs, to 40 cm long, 0.5–1.5 mm diam.; internodes numerous; branchlets numerous, flexuose, slender, branchlets 2–10 per node, to 17 cm long. Sheaths lax, sometimes reflexed, ovate to obovate, brown, 5–15 mm long, apex truncate; lamina 1.5–3.5 (–8) mm long. Inflorescences: male and female inflorescences similar, sessile, spikelets borne singly, mostly terminal on secondary branchlets. Male spikelets: ovoid, 2.5–7.0 mm long; subtending bract shorter than or equal in length to spikelet (rarely longer); mucro 0.8–2.4 mm long; glumes 4–14 glumes, broad-elliptic, glabrous, obtuse, 1.5–2.4 mm long with a mucro 0.5–2.7 mm long. Female spikelets: narrow-ovoid, 5.5–7.7 mm long, 1-flowered; subtending bract usually shorter than spikelet and with a mucro 1.5–3.7 mm long; glumes c. 4, broadly ovate, acute, glabrous, 1.8–5.2 mm long; mucro to 1.3 mm long (rarely to c. 7 mm long). Male flowers: tepals 5, scarious, oblanceolate, acute, apex blunt, ± equal in length, 1.8–2.5 mm long; anthers 0.8–1.4 mm long. Female flowers: 1–5 tepals rarely present; ovary unilocular, style 1, mostly stigmatic. Nut ellipsoid, c. 2 mm long, finely rugose, glossy, with a blunt conical stylar beak. Culm anatomy: chlorenchyma continuous.
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