Japan Flora: Low, rather stout, smooth or sometimes papillose-pilose annual or biennial herb; stems 10-50 cm. long, with ascending branches; lower leaves narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 7-15 cm. long, 1-3.5 cm. wide, subacute, obtuse to acute at base; inflorescence leafy, the verticils densely many-flowered, subglobose, widely separated, or upper ones contiguous; perianth in fruit yellow-brown, the outer sepals nearly spreading, about 1 mm. long, the inner deltoid-ovate, acute, 2.5-3 mm. long, 1-2 mm. wide, sparingly net-veined, the marginal spines 2-3 mm. long, the tubercles ovoid, 1-1.5 mm. long; achenes yellow-brown, oblong, about 1.2 mm. long, lustrous, acutely trigonous. July-Aug. Waste ground near seashores;

Hokkaido, Honshu (n. distr.). Ochotsk Sea area to Siberia, India, and Europe.