Japan Flora: Stems long-creeping, loosely leafy, about 2 mm. across exclusive of the leaves; branches forked nearly to the base, 3-15 cm. long (inclusive of the fertile branchlets which are usually longer than the sterile), 3-5 mm. across inclusive of the leaves, somewhat glauces- cent, ascending at base; leaves of sterile branches ascending to suberect, incurved at tip, subulate，2-3 mm. long, 0.5-1 mm. wide, acuminate, entire, convex on back, concave inside, not keeled; spikes solitary on the branchlets, yellowish, cylindric, erect, sessile; branchlets 1-2 cm. long; bracts deltoid-orbicular, cuspidate, erose to undulate on margin. Sunny slopes among mosses and lichens in alpine regions;

Hokkaido, Honshu (centr. and u. distr.), Kyushu (Yakushima); rather rare. Kuriles. The typical variety occurs in Kamchatka, the Aleutians, and N. America.