Glabrous perennial with short woody rhizome in old specimens clothed with the remains of decayed leaf-sheaths. Stems solitary or somewhat tufted, rigid, acutely 4-5-angled, sulcate, smooth, or scabrid at the top, 30-70 cm by 1-2(-3) mm, the base clothed with 2-3 tubular, 4-5(-15) cm long sheaths with short erect blades. Basal leaves numerous, much shorter than the stems, subfalcate, firm, flat, exactly linear, with obtuse, rounded, apiculate top, spinulose-scabrid on the margins in the upper part, (2-)3-5 mm wide; ligule absent. Inflorescence compound or decompound, with several to numerous spikelets, 3-6 cm long, sometimes subcapitate. Involucral bracts 2-4, very short, erect, dilated at the base, the lowest up to 1½ cm. Primary rays (0-)3-6, erecto-patent to recurved, compressed, smooth, up to 4 cm. Spikelets solitary or partly clustered, lanceolate, compressed or subterete, often contorted, acute, 8-16-flowered, stramineous to dark brown, 6-10(-15) by 2-4 mm. Rachilla winged. Glumes distichous or subspiral, chartaceous, shining, gla-brous, broadly ovate to oblong-ovate, rather obtuse, distinctly mucronulate, keeled, 3-5 by 2½-3 mm. Stamens 3; anthers linear, 1½-2 mm. Style triquetrous, pyramidally thickened at the base, gla-brous or sparsely ciliate at the top, 2-3 mm; stigmas 3, about as long as the style. Nut trigonous, obovoid or broadly obovoid, shortly stipitate, umbonulate, verruculose, whitish or stramineous, 4/5-1 by 3/5-1 mm; epidermal cells minute, isodiametric.
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Perennials. Rhizomes short. Culms tufted, 20-50 cm tall, with fewer radical leaves at base. Leaf sheath leathery, apex obliquely split, mouth margins membranous and pale brown; leaf blade slightly falcate, 10-20 cm × 1-2.5 mm, glabrous, apex acute and apiculate. Involucral bracts 2-4, nearly leaflike, 3-15 mm, apically attenuate; bractlets pale brown, 2-3 mm. Inflorescence a compound anthela; rays 2 to many. Spikelets solitary, oblong, oblong-ovoid, or ovoid, 6-10 × 2-3 mm, many flowered, with basal 1 or 2 glumes empty. Fertile glumes yellowish brown, broadly ovate to subtriangular, 2.5-3.5 mm, shiny, 1-veined forming an abaxial keel, apex mucronate. Stamens 3. Ovary white, cylindric, striate; style brown, 3-sided, basally inflated; stigmas 3. Nutlet white or slightly brownish, broadly obovoid, 0.7-0.8 mm, 3-sided, verruculose. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.
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