Japan Flora: Densely tufted perennial; culms 20-40 cm. long, pubescent; leaf-blades flat, thin, 5-15 cm. long, 1.5-3 mm. wide; ligules 0.2-0.5 mm. long, ciliolate; panicles erect, com­pact, cylindric, 5-15 cm. long, 6-15 mm. wide, the branches short; spikelets silvery green, lustrous, 4-5 mm. long, com­pressed, 3- to 4-flowered; glumes rather unequal, lanceolate, acuminate, sometimes pilose on the keel; lemma broadly lanceolate, 3.5-5 mm. long; callus glabrous; rachilla puberu- lent; anthers 1.5-2 mm. long. May-July. Lowlands and mountains.

Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; rather com­mon. Widely distributed in the temperate regions of the Hemisphere.