Japan Flora: Rhizomes tufted, sometimes with elongate ascending innovations, the neck thinly covered with brown fibers; culms 20-50 cm. long, obtusely angled, smooth; leaf-blades 2-4 mm. wide, flat, stiff, dark green, scabrous; spikes 3-5, erect, the terminal staminate, clavate, dark brown, 1.5-25 cm. long, the others pistillate (or very rarely the upper ones androgynous), distant, short-cylindric, 1- 2.5 cm. long, rather densely flowered, the bracts short, with a long inflated sheath, green throughout or purplish brown at the base; pistillate scales obovate, dark purplish brown, some­times pale green, abruptly mucronate; perigynia slightly longer than the scales, ellipsoidal, 2.5-3 mm. long, usually light green, sparsely pnberulent or almost glabrous, abruptly recurved- beaked, entire at the tip; stigmas 3.Apr.-June Open woods on hillsides and in low mountains.

Hokkaido (sw. distr.), Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; very common. s. Korea.