Perennial, 10-30 cm; rhizome short, horizontal, with tillers. Stem c. 1 mm diam., smooth, grey-green, upper part trigonous, lower part almost terete, base swollen. Leaves up to nearly equalling stem, somewhat flexuous; sheaths 20-40 mm, brown or greyish-brown, not shiny, rather soft, mouth wide, slightly concave; ligule 0; blades to c. 20 cm, 1-2 mm wide, channelled or folded, often curved, grey-green, margins scabrous, apex long, acute, trigonous, scabrous. Inflorescence a single globose group of 4-10 sessile or subsessile spikes, 15-35 mm diam., white or yellow-brown; 2-3 bracts foliose, to c. 60 mm, channelled or folded, scabrous. Spikes 10-20 x to c. 5 mm, narrowly ovoid, compressed, with up to 40 glumes, glume-like bract c. 4 mm, acute, glume-like prophyll c. 2.5 mm, blunt; rachis quadrangular, angles rounded, not winged, internodes c. 0.8 mm; glumes c. 3.5 mm, tightly distichous, slightly keeled, white or yellow-brown, mucronate, sides with 4-5 rather inconspicuous veins, margins scarious. Stamens 3, anthers c. 1.5 mm. Nut c. 1.7 mm, obovoid, trigonous, dark brown or almost black, shiny, very weakly papillose.

Fl. Per.: April - June.

Type: India, Bengal, Midnapur, Chandracona ("crescit in nemorosis ad Midnapour, Tschandrancona"), König (LD!).

Rock crevices, road sides; Distribution: From E Iran to Myanmar; also in E Africa (R.W.Haines & Lye, Sedges and Rushes of E. Africa, 1983).