Plants dioec., occ. monoec., or rarely all fls hermaphrodite. Infl. similar in both sexes or very different, fls in spikelets or spike-like panicles. Spikelets 1–∞-fld, solitary or clustered, sessile or stalked within a shorter subtending bract. Fls sessile or pedicellate, each within a rigid upper floral bract; bractlets 2–1, or 0. Tepals 6–(3) or 0, in 2 whorls, glume-like and rigid or hyaline. ♂ with 3 stamens opp. the inner tepals; filaments slender, free or rarely connate; anthers us. 1-celled, dorsifixed; ovary rud. or 0. ♀ with 3, 2, or 0 staminodia; ovary superior, 1–3-locular; styles 1–3, free or variously connate; ovule solitary in each locule, pend. Fr. dry, often hard, an ind. nut, or capsule dehiscing longitudinally; seeds with cop. endosperm. Perennial rush-like or sedge-like herbs, tufted, or with a creeping rhizome covered with imbricate, scale-like sheaths. Culms rigid, erect or flexuose, simple or branched. Lvs reduced to sheaths at each node, persistent or deciduous. Predominantly a family of the Southern Hemisphere with some 30 genera and c. 300 spp., mainly in South Africa and Australia. Sporadanthus is endemic to N.Z.