Japan Flora: Rhizomes densely tufted; culms smooth, hidden among the leaves, 3-6 cm. long; leaf-blades filiform, ciliate-hispidulous, elongat­ing after anthesis, 0.5-1.5 mm. wide, the basal sheaths pardy reddish, splitting into brown fibers, these thinly covering the neck of the rhizome; spikes 2-4, erect, the terminal staminate, 5-10 mm long, few-flowered, longer than the lateral pistil­late ones, the pistillate ovoid, few-flowered, 5-7 mm. long, the bracts spathaceous, bladeless, broadly hyaline-margined; pistillate scales ovate, acute, hyaline, pale to partially reddish, clasping the rachis at base, broadly scarious-margmed; peri­gynia slightly shorter than the scales, orbicular, 3 mm. long, indistinctly trigonous, obsoletely thick-nerved, rather densely pubescent, with a rather short oblique thick stipe, abruptly very short-beaked, with a ferrugineous entire tip. Mar.-May. Shallow soils over rocks or in open woods in hills and low mountains; Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyu­shu. Korea. The typical phase occurs in Europe and Si­beria. 

var. callitrichos (V. Krecz.) Ohwi. Leaves involute, capillary, less than 0.5 mm. wide; staminate spike many-flowered, ellipsoidal. Kyushu (Tsushima).  s. Kuriles, Korea to Ussuri and Manchuria.