Tufted, to about 1 m tall with short rhizomes. Leaves about as long as stems with tissue divided into compartments (so that the leaves feel bumpy when finger run along them), sheaths yellow-brown. Inflorescence 6-25 cm long, with 3-6 spikes, each long-stalked and pendulous when mature; spring to summer. Nut yellowbrown.
Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand
C. pendula Huds. From Europe, Africa and Asia is occasionally offered. It is a large, tufted plant over 1 m tall with pendulous cylindrical female spikes to 25 cm long and chambered (septate) leaves. Although highly ornamental it has naturalised in Victoria at Mt Macedon and in New Zealand.
Source: (2005). Cyperaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.