Plants 20-40 cm tall. Stem erect, terete, sparsely hairy, much branched; lowest branches ascending, upper ones usually obliquely spreading. Leaves dark green, linear, 3-5 cm × 2-4 mm, 1-veined, base attenuate, apex acuminate, mucronate. Spikelike inflorescence terete, loose, usually 5-8 × ca. 0.6 cm; bracts green, lanceolate to ovate, 1-3-veined, base rounded, margin membranous, apex acute. Perianth segments 3. Stamens 5, exserted from perianth. Utricle oblong-elliptic, 3-4 × 1.5-3 mm, glabrous, base broadly cuneate, apex emarginate; wing 0.4-0.7 mm wide, margin entire; beak ca. 0.7 mm, apex 1/5-1/3 as long as beak. Fl. and fr. Jul-Sep.

Sandy places on beaches, dunes, inter-dunes. Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Ningxia (Zhongwei) [Russia (Far East, SE Siberia)].