Japan Flora: Rhizomes short, creeping; stems loosely tufted, erect, 30-50 cm. tall, com­pressed, narrowly 2-winged; leaves cauline, few, linear-ensi­form, compressed, slightly shorter or k)nger than the stem, pluritubulose, acuminate, the septa dear; inflorescence termi­nal, of 2-5 globose heads, each 8-10 mm. in diameter, densely many flowered, the lowest bract leaflike, shorter than the in­florescence; flowers pedicellate, about 3 mm. long in fruit, mostly black-brown; perianth-segments lanceolate, acute, the inner slightly shorter than the outer; stamens 3, 2/3 as long as the inner perianth-segments, the anthers half as long as the filaments; capsule oblong, as long as the perianth-segments, rather thin; seeds obovoid, about 0.6 nun. long. Aug.-Sept. Moors.

Hokkaido, Honshu (n. and centr. distr.). Kuriles and N. America.