Fimbristylis decora Nees & Meyen.

Perennials. Rhizomes obliquely to horizontally elongated, branched, covered with often blackish brown fibers from old leaf sheaths. Culms widely spaced, 15-30 cm tall, obtusely 3-angled, with white silky hairs, bearing leaves at base. Leaf sheath adaxially membranous and rust-colored, mouth obliquely split; ligule absent; leaf blade 1.5-3.2 mm wide, curved, flat, both surfaces with dense white silky hairs, apex acute. Involucral bracts 2 or 3, leaflike, shorter than inflorescence, both surfaces with white silky hairs. Inflorescence a simple anthela; rays 2-4, 0.7-2.5 mm, sometimes extremely short, compressed, with white silky hairs. Spikelets 3-15 in capitate heads, oblong-ovoid to oblong, 6-10 × 2-3.5 mm, apex acute. Glumes ovate, ca. 3 mm, both surfaces with reddish purplish lines, midvein white pilose, margin broad and white, apex obtuse with a hard mucro. Stamens 3; anthers narrowly oblong, ca. 3 mm. Ovary oblong, biconvex; style slightly compressed, basally slightly inflated and hairy, apically slightly pubescent; stigmas 2, slightly shorter than style. Nutlet yellowish white to brown when young but blackish purple when mature, ellipsoid-obovoid to obovoid, ca. 1.5 mm, biconvex. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.

Sandy places, sand dunes along seashores; near sea level to 400 m. Fujian, Guangdong, S Guangxi, Hainan, Jiangsu, Taiwan, Zhejiang [India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam; Africa, Australia].