Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Perennials with short rhizomes.

Stems: culms densely tufted, stiffly erect, obtusely trigonous, 5–60 cm tall, 1–2 mm in diameter.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. alternate Blades subcoriaceous, linear, much shorter than culms, 1–4 mm wide, spreading to recurved, flat or margins weakly recurved. Apex abruptly contracted and obtuse. Margins entire. Sheathing; sheaths persistent, thickly clothing the culm bases, ventrally membranous, dorsally eventually becoming dusky brown to dark brown; ligule absent. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescences simple or compound, up to 4 cm long and 7 cm wide; rays 2–5 cm long, involucral bracts 1–3, usually shorter than inflorescence; spikelets in clusters of 2–5, rarely solitary, rusty brown or somewhat grayish brown, oblong– ellipsoid to oblong–ovoid, 3–6 mm long, 1.5–2.5 mm wide, apex obtuse; glumes rusty brown, margins broadly white–hyaline, membranous, ovate to broadly ovate, 1–1.3 mm long, obtuse, 3– nerved or 5–nerved. Flowers bisexual (perfect). Corolla (petals) absent. Stamens 3. Ovary superior; styles scarcely flattened, ca. 1 mm long, glabrous, not fimbriate; stigmas 2.

Fruit: Achenes dark brown to grayish brown; nearly smooth; broadly obovoid; trigonous to somewhat biconvex; 0.7–1 mm long. Seeds 1; seed coat thin; free from pericarp; embryo basal; endosperm abundant.

Ploidy: 2n = 10; 28*; 40; 48*

Habitat: Coastal areas.

Elevation Range: 0–10 m.