Low-growing perennial to 4.5 cm, sometimes forming a loosely woven mat to 2 m diam. or more, usually almost entirely covered by soil, rarely flowering and only the short very narrow dull green curved leaves visible; branching extravaginal. Leaf-sheath glabrous, submembranous, much wider than leaf-blade, ribs few, distinct. Ligule 0.2-0.6 mm, subhyaline, obtuse or truncate. Leaf-blade 1-3 cm × 0.2-0.5 mm, setaceous, involute, glabrous, subacute, margins minutely scaberulous. Culm entirely hidden by leaf-sheaths. Panicle rarely present, 10-16 mm, overtopped by leaf-blades, bearing up to 12 spikelets, lowermost branches enclosed by leaf-sheaths, smooth, uppermost branches scaberulous. Spikelets 3-4-(4.8) mm, 4-6-flowered, green to brownish green. Glumes unequal, ovate, obtuse, submembranous; lower 0.6-1 mm, 1-nerved, upper 1.1-1.4 mm, 3-nerved. Lemma 1.8-2.5 mm, 5-nerved, ovate-elliptic, entirely glabrous, midnerve ± reaching subacute apex. Palea ≈ lemma, keels scabrid in upper ⅔. Rachilla 0.4-0.5 mm. Anthers 0.4-0.6 mm. Caryopsis 1.2-1.6 × 0.6-0.7 mm.
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