Herb 7–70 cm high. Leaves linear to lanceolate, 4–65 cm long, 0.4–1.3 cm wide, 15–25-nerved. Peduncle 12–46 cm long, with 5 or 6 ribs. Sheath 80–130 mm long. Flower heads hemispherical to ovoid, 3–6 mm long, 4–6 mm wide. Involucral bracts straw-yellow, broadly ovate, 1.5–2 mm long, 1.5–2.25 mm wide, obtuse, glabrous, not reflexed at maturity. Floral bracts straw-yellow, broadly obovate, 1.4–2 mm long, 2–2.5 mm wide, obtuse with tip inflexed, pubescent apically with white hairs. Receptacle glabrous, convex to conical. Male flowers: sepals 2, fused for greater part, hyaline, 1.5–2 mm long, 0.9–1.5 mm wide, obtuse but irregularly toothed, glabrous; petals 2, hyaline, equal, linear, acute, with apical fringe of white hairs; stamens 4; anthers black. Female flowers: sepals 2, hyaline, equal, navicular, with broad dorsal wing, 1.2–2 mm long, 0.5–0.9 mm wide, crested, glabrous or rarely a fringe of hairs along margin; petals 2, hyaline, equal, linear, 1.25–1.75 mm long, c. 0.1 mm wide, acuminate, pubescent with apical fringe of white hairs and hyaline hairs on margins; ovary 2–locular. Seeds 0.6–0.85 mm long, 0.45–0.5 mm wide; epidermal cell walls with longitudinal rows of hair or peg-like projections, often with a terminal cap and often erect.
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