Herb, dioecious, perennial, glabrous, forming dense tussocks of crowded culms or well separated culms over an area to 1 m across. Rhizomes extended, stout, 2–5 mm diam.; scales scarious, brown or straw-coloured. Cataphylls scarious, straw-coloured to dark-brown, broad lanceolate, extending c. 2–3.5 cm up the culm, apex truncate with a terete, linear lamina up to 3 cm long. Culms erect, occasionally slightly flexuose, + terete, 15–35 cm long, 1–1.9 mm diam., smooth, simple; internodes 3 or 4; lowest internode 4–14 cm long. Sheaths slightly lax, caducous, oblong, 0.5–2.5 cm long, apex truncate; lamina 0.1–1.4 (–4.7) cm long. Inflorescence up to 9.5 cm long, with few to many flowers crowded apically or on short side branches. Spathes often caducous, 0.4–1 (–1.5) cm long; lamina 1–2.5 mm long; floral bracts 2, acuminate-mucronate, males 2.8–3.3 mm long, females 2.0–2.5 mm long. Male flowers: tepals lanceolate, acutely acuminate, rigid, brown, tepals equal length, 3.5–4.3 mm long; anthers 2.1–2.4 mm long. Female flowers: tepals similar or slightly shorter than males, inner tepals red-brown. Seeds globose-elliptic, white, c. 0.9 mm diam., colliculate with lines of small circular raised areas.
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