Tufted slender annual 0.5-3 dm; lower sheaths bladeless, the upper with soft blades 1-3 mm wide; bracts 2-4, widely spreading, 3-10 cm; spikes 1 or sometimes 2 or 3, ovoid to subglobose, strictly sessile, 5-10 mm; spikelets very numerous, flattened, 2-3 mm, 1- fld; scales very thin, with a ±denticulate keel and hyaline margins; stamens 2; anthers 0.2-0.4 mm; achenes tan, lenticular, elliptic, 1.1-1.4 mm, half as wide. Muddy or sandy shores; trop. Amer. and Afr., n. to Del., Pa., O., Mo., and Kan. (C. densicaespitosus; Kyllinga pumila)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.