Tufted annual with crowded stems; stems 5–40 cm long and 0.6–1.2 mm thick, terete or angular. Sheath grey above, purple below, ending in a short triangular acute lobe with thinner hyaline margin. Spikelet shortly ovate to almost globose, usually 3–4 x 2.5–3.5 mm, 20–50-flowered. Glumes 2–3 mm long, greyish below, brown above, rounded at the apex, margin usually somewhat frayed and without a distinct hyaline border. Perianth-bristles 5–7, glabrous, longer than the nutlet. Stamens 1–3. Style with 2 stigmas. Nutlet c. 0.8 x 0.6 mm, obovate, biconvex, blackish-purple, smooth and shiny; appendage small, low-conical, pallid.
