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Perennial, often with the base bulked out by persistent leaf-bases, forming clumps. Leaves up to 60 cm long, 1-6 mm wide; sheaths red-brown, shiny, glabrous, gradually dilated to base, splitting and persisting as bristles when old; ligule acute, ±1 mm long; lamina linear, glabrous, often spirally twisted; apex solid, acute, glabrous. Peduncles 50-85 (-110) cm long, 1-2 mm in diameter, flattened to subterete, longitudinally grooved; spike ellipsoid, obtuse, ±9 mm long, 6 mm in diameter at first flowering, elongating with age to ±20 mm long or longer; sterile bracts suborbicular, ±3-4 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, coriaceous, shiny, uniformly brown, usually without a dorsal mark; fertile bracts similar, numerous. Lateral sepals curved, 3.5-4.5 mm long, coriaceous, brown, keel irregularly fimbriate-dentate at least in the upper half; corolla yellow, petals broadly obovate, apex laciniate, 4.5 mm long, 3.5 mm. Stamens 2 mm long, including anthers 1 mm long; staminodes almost sessile, composed of bunches of straight hairs. Ovary ellipsoid; style ±2.5 mm long, branches 2 mm long. Seeds ovoid, ±0.6 mm long, 0.25 mm in diameter, with 12-13 longitudinal ridges.
Perennial, strongly tufted; rhizome hard, compact, covered by persistent shiny reddish brown contorted leaf-bases and cataphylls up to 60 mm long; roots fairly thin, soft. Leaves clustered, stiff, linear, up to 500 x 4 mm (less in our area), acuminate above, sometimes mildly twisted. Scapes up to 0.6 m long, wiry, terete or flattened when dry. Spikes ellipsoid, up to 15 x 7 mm, bracts fairly uniform and somewhat gaping at anthesis, shining chestnut-brown, convex, mucronate, margin smooth, entire except for an occasional median split. Lateral sepals folded, curved with thick dark keels bearing a narrow wing more or less densely ciliate, especially above. Calyptriform sepal brownish yellow. Corolla yellow, fading to white, lobes of petals denticulate. Style with 3 capitate stigmas. Capsule narrowly ovoid, 2-3 mm long; seeds ovoid.
Tufted, perennial herb, up to 0.85 m high. Roots thin. Leaves clustered on compact rhizomes, linear. Bracts of spikes ± uniform, dark brown in a fairly uniform spiral. Spikes ovoid, many-flowered. Flowers yellow.
