Japan Flora: Usually a more or less reddish annual, 30-60 cm. high; stems slender, elongate, branched above, decumbent at base; leaves broadly linear or narrowly lanceolate, 4-8 cm. long, 3-7 mm. wide, gradually acuminate to acute, nearly sessile or very short-petiolate, sparsely short-appressed pilose on upper side, on the margins and on nerves beneath, often with sessile discoid glands beneath; sheaths 5-10 mm. long, short-pilose, the cilia rather short; spikes rather many, linear, terminal and lateral, loosely flowered, 3-5 cm. long, nodding; flowers green with a red tinge, 1.5-1.8 mm. long; achenes lenticular, elliptic, about 1.5 mm. long, lustrous, black-brown. Sept.-Oct. Wet places in abandoned paddy fields, on riverbanks and along ditches;

Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu. Korea. The typical phase occurs in Eurasia.

var. nikaii (Makino) Kitam. Spikes very loosely flowered; flowers compressed, 2-2.5 mm. long. Sept.-Oct. Wet places; Honshu (Kanto Distr. and westw.), Shikoku, Kyushu. China.