Rhizomes short, or shortly and obliquely elongated, plants forming a turf. Basal sheaths prominent and persistent, reddish brown or pale brown, dull, fibrillose, not retaining dried leaf blades. Culms densely tufted, erect or curved, subterete, 3.5-10 cm tall, slender, ca. 0.5 mm in diam. Leaves basal, equaling or exceeding culms; blade filiform, flaccid, ca. 0.5 mm wide, margin involute. Inflorescence spicate, linear, rather lax, usually unisexual, occasionally gynaecandrous or androgynous, plants with male and female inflorescences on same individual, or sometimes dioecious; spikelets unisexual. Male spikes 1.5-3 × ca. 0.2 cm; male glumes oblong-lanceolate, 6-8 × 1.2-2 mm, midvein green, margin and apex hyaline. Female spikes 2-3.5 × ca. 0.2 cm; lowest involucral bract glumelike, apex acute or shortly aristate; female glumes brown, with pale brown or pale green midvein, lanceolate, 5-6.2 × 1.7-2 mm, midvein narrow, margin broadly hyaline, apex subacute or obtuse. Prophylls lower part yellow, upper part and margin brown, linear, 4.7-5.7 × ca. 0.7 mm, 2-keeled, keels scabrid, margins free to base, apex truncate, hyaline. Nutlets narrowly oblong or oblanceolate, trigonous, shortly stipitate and beaked, 3.5-4 (excluding beak) × 0.6-1.2 mm, beak 0.5-1 mm. Stigmas 3. Sterile rachilla of female spikelets to 1/2 as long as nutlet. Fl. and fr. Jul-Sep.
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