H. nicaraguense Liebm. Wide-leaved perennial herb, to 1.2 m tall. Leaves longer than culms, 2-3 cm wide, 3-ribbed, the margins scabrous, the outermost leaves basal and bractlike. Inflorescences corymbose-paniculate, mostly 5-8 cm long, often as broad as or broader than long, the lowermost bracts leaflike, to 40 cm long; branches densely scabrid; spikelets oblong, terete, ca 4 mm long, brown, nearly sessile or peduncles to 5 mm long; the peduncles scabrid; scales rounded at apex; stamens 2; style bifid. Achenes ovoid, ca 2.5 mm long, brown, beaked. Croat 5932, 8349. Occasional in the forest, usually in somewhat open areas. Flowers from the late rainy season to the early dry season. The fruits mature in the late dry and early rainy seasons.