Rhizome short, emitting long-creeping stolons covered with 2-ranked lanceolate greyish scales. Stems tufted, slender, rigid, terete or more or less angular, striate, smooth, 30-90 cm by 1-2 mm. Leaves few, the basal ones shorter than to about as long as the stems, erect, subterete or somewhat angular towards the apex, smooth, pungent, internally with continuous pith, the 1-2 cauline ones with a short blade. Panicle erect, oblong, narrow, dense, much branched, 5-15 cm long. Lowest bract reduced to a membranous sheath with a short blade, upper ones gradually shorter to glume-like. Branches solitary or 2 together, obliquely erect, scaberulous. Spikelets numerous, in dense clusters, ovate to lanceolate, 2-3-flowered, usually perfecting 1 nut, dark reddish brown, 3-5 by 1½-2 mm. Glumes 5-6, ovate, acuminate or mucronulate, with scaberulous keel and ciliate margins, up to 4 mm long. Bristles absent. Stamens 3; anthers 1½-2 mm, with distinctly produced connective. Nut obovoid or ellipsoid, obscurely trigonous, sessile (? the very short smooth space at the base possibly the stipe fused with the nut proper), with many much raised ridges, opaque, crowned by the depressed, scarcely distinct, glabrous, persistent style-base, 1½-2 by 1-1¼ mm.
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