Fimbristylis dichotoma, the forked fimbry, is a tufted erect, annual or perennial plant, 10–80 cm tall, with numerous long stems about 2 mm in diameter, slightly three-angled, compressed below the inflorescence, node-less, smooth. The root system is fibrous, wiry, black. Short rhizomes. Leaves numerous, forming a dense tuft at the base of the stem, being at least half as long as the stem.