Perennial, to more than 1 m. Rhizome short, horizontal or ascending. Stem 3-5 mm diam., trigonous, smooth. Leaves up to as long as stem; sheaths to 30 cm, brown, green or yellowish green, soft, mouth margin slightly concave; blades 50 cm or longer, 3-10 mm wide, flat or folded, keeled, margins recurved, smooth or scabrous, apex trigonous, barbed. Inflorescence a compound anthelodium, conical, to 30 cm; bracts up to 7, leaf-like, 2-4, up to more than 50 cm long, up to 10 mm wide; primary branches 8-12, up to 20 cm, tubular prophyll up to 30 mm, bi-nerved, often with two aristas up to 10 mm; secondary anthelodia up to 10 cm, with up to more than 10 secondary branches, angle between primary and secondary branches sharp, with several foliose bracts, shorter than anthelodium; some primary and most secondary branches ending with cluster of spikes, sometimes with small tertiary anthelodia; cluster of spikes 25-50 x 10-20 mm, with 20-60 spirally aranged spikes; spikes 5-14 mm x 1.5-2 mm, compressed, with 8-34 glumes; glume-like bract, 0.8-1.3 mm, sometimes filiform, up to 10 mm; glume-like prophyll, c. 1.5 mm, bi-nerved; glumes c. 1.8 mm, keeled, midnerve strong, green, mucro c. 0.3 mm, sides brown or dark brown, with 2-3 rather distinct nerves, glossy, margins narrowly scarious; rachis flat, quadrangular, c. 0.3 mm wide, internodes 0.3-0.5 mm, narrowly winged. Nut c. 0.5 x 0.3 mm, ellipsoid or ovoid, trigonous, whitish or yellowish brown, finely reticulate or almost smooth.

Fl. Per.: September.

Type: "E Tranquebaria misit honor. König", (LD!). Sind, Stocks 223 (K).

Ditches, irrigation channels, rice fields; Distribution: In tropical Africa, in SE Asia from India to Japan and southwards to southern Australia.

Cyperus exaltatus is polymorphic and requires revision. Description is based primarily on specimens from NW India, which poorly correspond to the type specimen from S India. The illustrations cited may not represent characteristic race.