Pale bulrush: The stems are round and tube-like with inconspicuous nodes. The centre is often filled with a spongy material called pith. The leaves are usually tube-like and look like the stems, but may also be flat or folded. The leaves are three ranked. The leaf sheaths are sometimes open and sometimes closed and the ligules are lacking or poorly developed. The flowers are small, inconspicuous, and star-like. They are associated with narrow, non-leafy, bracts. The fruit is a small capsule containing hundreds of very tiny seeds.