Pale green or reddish tufts to 20 cm high; stems filiform; stolons slender. Leaves filiform, twice as long as stems, plano-convex. Female spikes 2-3, usually all crowded, ± 0.5 cm long, light brown. Stigmas 3.

Dense, filiform, pale green or reddish tufts with ∞ slender stolons. Culms 3–12 cm. × c. 0.5 mm., terete, faintly striated. Lvs up to twice the length of the culms, c. 0.5 mm., or rarely up to 1 mm. wide, plano-convex, nerved on the abaxial surface, smooth on the adaxial surface, very finely scabrid towards the tip. Infl. of (2)–3–4 spikes crowded at the top of the culm, or the lowermost somewhat distant; the uppermost spike male, extremely slender; remaining spikes female, shortly pedunculate, occ. with male fls at the top; bracts subtending spikes, long, lf-like and filiform. Glumes < or occ. = utricles, ovate, membr., pale cream, occ. brown- or red-flecked, the distinct midrib us. produced to a smooth or very finely scabrid awn. Utricles 2.5–3 × c. 1.5 mm., plano-convex or subtrigonous, elliptic-lanceolate, light brown with reddish brown markings towards the beak, distinctly nerved; beak hardly narrowed, c. 0.5 mm. long, margins smooth, shallowly bifid; stipe minute. Stigmas 3. Nut c. 1.5 mm. long, trigonous, obovoid, red-brown.