Plants cespitose; rhizomes short, tough, fibrous. Culms: fertile ones upright or nearly so; nodes without axillary bulblets. Leaves 5–10 per culm; sheaths of proximal leaves green or whitish; proximal sheaths and blades with septa many, conspicuous or not; blades 20–55 cm × 8–16 mm. Inflorescences terminal, rarely also with 1 lateral inflorescence from distal leaf axil; rays ascending or divergent (commonly both in same inflorescence), smooth throughout or scabrous at distal end, rays without axillary bulblets; bases of involucral bracts green or margins brown, not glutinous. Spikelets aggregated in a few dense clusters of 12–130 (largest cluster with 40–50+), spikelets sessile, narrowly ovoid, 4–5 × 1.8–2.3 mm; scales black or brownish black with pale midribs, elliptic to ovate, 1.6–2.8 mm, ending in terete or flat awn 0.4–0.6(–1.2) mm. Flowers: perianth bristles persistent, 6, rather stout, straight or curved, longest bristles equaling achene, with retrorse, thin-walled, round-tipped teeth in distal 0.3–0.5, enclosed within scales; styles 3-fid. Achenes pale brown or almost white, oblong-elliptic to elliptic or obovate in outline, plumply trigonous or plano-convex, 0.8–1.2 × 0.4–0.6 mm. 2n = 56.
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