Rhynchospora gracillima is an annual or short lived perrenial sedge that may grow to be 20–60 cm (0.66–1.97 ft) tall.

They are made of one to three clusters, with the outer flowers borne on longer stems than the central ones.

[3] The morphology of the spikelets has been studied in more detail in Rhynchospora gracillima subsp.

They are noticeably spiraled with the internodes being enlarged, curved and flattened in order to accommodate the seeds.

[4] It grows in moist places, grassy slopes and forests.

[4] Rhynchospora gracillima is known to grow in Australia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, China, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

It is also suspected to occur in Angola, Burundi, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and The Gambia.