Japan Flora: Stems 20-75cm. long, erect, firm, simple, evergreen, 3-8 mm. across, shallowly 14- to 26-grooved, scaberulous, the ridges with 2 rows of tubercles, the central cavity about 2/3 the diameter of the stem; sheaths 5.5-14 mm. long, tight, a little longer than broad (3-8 mm. wide), with a black band below the middle and a black border, the teeth 14-26, the apical portion 3-6 mm. long, membranous, dark brown, caducous, the basal portion persistent on the sheath; spikes 6-13 mm. long, sessile. Fruiting Aug.-Dec. Sandy shaded places in valleys and ravines;

Hokkaido, Honshu (n. and centr. distr.). Sakhalin, Kuriles, Korea, Himalayas, Siberia to Europe, and N. America.

Russia Flora: Plant, up to 60 (100) cm tall. Stems overwinter green, about 5 mm thick, straight, very strong and rigid, usually without branches (very rarely with few branches). Leaf teeth 18-20, mostly black, with early falling tips. Cone solitary, terminal, oval, pointed, 10-15 mm long. 

Okhotsk, Kamchatka, Komandorskie Islands, Northern Sakhalin, Northern Kuril, Upper Zeya, Lower Zeya, Bureya, Amgun, Ussuri, Southern Sakhalin, Southern Kuril. In forests (mainly coniferous), in wet areas; forms thickets. Used as fodder (for horses), medicinal, technical (polishing material).  General distribution: European part, Caucasus, Western and Eastern Siberia, Central Asia; Atlantic Europe, Asia Minor, Japan-China (China), North America, South America, Africa.  Described from Europe.

Note: In Kamchatka, Komandorskie Islands, Sakhalin and Kuril Islands, as well as on the Okhotsk coast of the mainland, leaf teeth often persist, which served as a basis for distinguishing E. komarovii Iljin (described from Kamchatka). Sometimes a variety,  var. ramigerum A. Br.  is found, which has branches in the lower part of the stem (in the Far East so far found only in Primorye, on sands near the mouth of the Tyumen-Ula River).