Japan Flora: Plant loosely tufted; culms 30100 cm. long, scabrous on the angles; leaf-blades flat, rather stiff, 3-6 mm. wide, the basal leaf­sheaths bladeless, partially reddish purple, sparingly fibrous; upper 2 or 3 spikes staminate, broadly linear, 3-5 cm. long, contiguous, the lower 2 or 3 pistillate, cylindric, 3-7 cm. long, 7-10 mm. wide, distant, densely flowered, the lower one or more peduncled, erect or often nodding, the bracts leaflike, sheathless; pistillate scales ovate-lanceolate, acute, sanguineous or light tawny; perigynia longer than the scales, 6-8 mm. long, spreading, ovoid-conical, inflated-trigonous, light yellowish green, sometimes partially dark brown, lustrous, nerved, abruptly rather long-beaked, inflated, bifurcate at tip; stigmas 3, short. May-July. Swamps or marshy places along rivers and around ponds.

Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu; rather com­mon northward. Widely distributed in the cooler zones of the N. Hemisphere.