Slender tussocky perennial with numerous crowded basal leaves and 1 or a few fertile stems from each tussock; stem 5–20 cm long and 0.5–1 mm thick, triangular, glabrous. Leaves from the lower 2 cm only; base covered by a very thick layer of brown sheaths; blades 2–10 cm long and 0.4–0.8 mm thick, flat (but appears filiform) or inrolled, scabrid on margin. Inflorescence a dense hemispherical head of numerous crowded spikelets; involucral bracts 2–4, leafy, erect, spreading or reflexed, 1–8 cm long. Spikelets 5–7 x 2.5–3.5 mm, ovate-elliptic, compressed, 8–12-flowered. Glumes 3–3.5 mm long, ovate-elliptic, pale brown with 4–7 narrow nerves on each side of the indistinct midrib that ends below the obtuse apex. Style 3-branched. Nutlet c. 1.5 x 1 mm, obovate-triangular with concave adaxial side, black, almost smooth.
