Infl. a short narrow panicle. Spikelets us. 2-fld, the upper fl. hermaphrodite, the lower male. Glumes distichous, the lower 3 or more empty, the next 2 floriferous, us. followed by an empty, or very small upper glume. Hypog. bristles 0 in N.Z., elsewhere 0 or various. Stamens 3, 4, (6 or 8). Style continuous with nut, dilated and scabrous at the base; style-branches 3 or 4. Nut turgid-trigonous, rarely tetragonous, crowned by the persistent style-base. Perennial herbs. Rhizome short and woody. Culms tufted, lfy at base or a few lvs cauline. A genus of c. 40 spp. mainly S. African, but 4 spp. are Australian. The N.Z. sp. occurs also in Australia.