Annual with fibrous roots. Stems very slender, setaceous, tufted, slightly compressed, obtusangular, glabrous, or hairy at the top, 15-30 cm by ½-¾ mm. Leaves somewhat shorter to longer than the stems, filiform, involute, abruptly acuminate, soft-hairy also on the sheaths, ½-1½ mm wide; ligule absent. Inflorescence compound, very loose, with several to many spikelets, narrow, 3-10 cm long. Involucral bracts 2-3, erect, the lowest up to twice as long as the inflorescence, 6-12 cm. Primary rays 5-7, very un-equal, suberect, filiform, slightly compressed, pilose (like the short, suberect secondary rays), rarely glabrous (see Notes), up to 7 cm. Spikelets solitary, (narrowly) lanceolate, angular, acute, loosely many-flowered, dull brown, 3-8 by 1-1¼ mm; rachilla distinctly winged. Glumes spiral (see Notes), membranous, oblong-ovate, acutish, mucronate, keeled, glabrous, with 3-5-nerved keel (midnerve prominent) and nerveless sides, 2-2¼ by 1½-1½ mm. Stamens 1(-2); anthers oblong-linear, ½ mm. Style slender, flat, not hyaline-margined, slightly dilated at the base, glabrous or sparsely ciliate, 1-1⅓ mm; stigmas 2, shorter than the style. Nut biconvex, with acute, obscurely costulate edges, obovate, rounded or subtruncate at the apex, smooth or sparsely white-scaly, shortly stipitate, minutely umbonulate, obscurely reticulate by the hexagonal or transversely elliptic, not impressed epidermal cells, shining, whitish to pale brown, ¾-9/10 by c. ½ mm.
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Annuals. Culms tufted, 3-25 cm tall, slender, flatly 3-angled, striate, glabrous, with few leaves at base. Leaves shorter than culm; sheath brown, densely pubescent; leaf blade ca. 1 mm wide, flat, both surfaces sparsely pubescent, margin sometimes slightly involute. Involucral bracts 5 or 6, needlelike, shorter than inflorescence, pubescent. Inflorescence a simple or occasionally compound anthela; rays 5-8, to 5 cm, slender, densely pubescent. Spikelet solitary, oblong, narrowly ovoid, or narrowly linear-ovoid, 4-12 × 1.5-2 mm, with several to 10 or more flowers. Glumes spirally imbricate, pale brown, ovate-lanceolate, ca. 2 mm, membranous, 3-veined forming an abaxial keel, midvein excurrent into a mucro. Stamens 2; anthers dark red, linear-oblong. Style long and compressed, basally inflated, apically ciliate; stigmas 2, short, with papillae. Nutlet brown, shortly stipitate, obovoid, ca. 1 mm, biconvex, almost smooth with indistinct hexagonal reticulation. Fl. Jun-Jul.
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