Glabrous; rhizome short, horizontal; stems 8-30 in. long, tufted, medium-sized, terete, without nodes between the panicle and basal leaves; leaf-sheaths coloured, with scarious edges, not fimbriate; leaves 4-12 by 1/20-1/12 in., rigid, concave-convex; panicle 1-2 by 1/2 in., rigid, condensed, of 6-15 spikelets or sometimes reduced to 1-3 spikelets; bracts 1-8 in. long, resembling the leaves, not dilated nor sheathing at the base; spikelets 1/3-1/2 by 1/6 in., nearly sessile, erect, rigid, a fine brown, often viscid; empty lower glumes 4-5, ovate, hardly acute, distichous, rigid; lower flower male, with imperfect pistil (or sometimes 2 lower flowers male); upper 2-sexual, perfecting a nut; hypogynous bristles 6-5, 1/2 the length of the nut, linear, slenderly scabrous-hairy; stamens 6 (or often 8), sometimes 3-4 only in the nut-bearing flower; anthers linear, nearly 1/6 in. long, with long lanceolate crest, not eared at the base; nut 1/12-1/8 in. long, ovoid, obscurely 3-4-angular, brown, continuous with the pale conic beak, smooth, very minutely reticulated; style linear, branches 3 or 4, long, linear.
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Perennial herb, tufted, 0.20-0.75 m high. Leaves: sheaths entire, ridged, yellowish-brown to red; blades thick, rigid, 1.0-1.2 mm wide, C-shaped. Culm ridged, terete, 1.2-1.8 mm in diam. Inflorescence head-like or a reduced, compact panicle of 1 or 2 (or more) sessile clusters at culm apex, of 6-15 erect spikelets (sometimes reduced to 1-3), 25-50 x 12.5 mm. Subtending bracts leaf-like, not dilated or sheathing at base, longer than spikelets. Spikelets flattened, lanceolate, 8.0-12.5 x 4 mm, with glumes ± 2-ranked. Glumes: fertile viscid, lanceolate, ± 7 mm long, keel non-excurrent. Perianth of 5 or 6 short, linear bristles. Flowering time Nov., Mar. Nutlet elliptic, excluding style base ± 3.5 mm long, obscurely 3-angled, light brown, crowned by large, conical, glabrous style base, surface with angles thickened, otherwise minutely trabeculate.
Perennial, 30-90 cm. Spikelets viscid, light to dark brown.
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