Japan Flora: Culms 20-40 cm. long, gla­brous; leaf-blades flat, soft, dark green, 6-12 nun. wide, the basal sheaths sanguineous; spikes 3-7, erect, approximate, the lower ones distant, the upper 1-3 staminate and linear or gynecandrous and clavate, the others mostly all pistillate, often with a few staminate flowers at base, narrowly oblong, densely many-flowered, peduncled, the bracts leaflike, the sheaths often dark purplish red at base; pistillate scales ovate, acute, dark reddish purple; perigynia longer than the scales, 3.5- 4 mm. long, slightly turgid, membranous, lustrous, gla­brous, green, many-nerved, rather abruptly short-beaked, with an entire hyaline tip; stigmas 3. Apr.-May. Dense woods; 

s. Kyushu; rare. Ryukyus, Formosa, China, and Indochina.