Japan Flora: Gla­brous, slightly glaucescent, erect perennial, 30-80 cm. high, with thick rhizomes; stems pale green to very slightly brown­ish red; lower few pairs of leaves reduced to short sheaths; upper leaves lanceolate to broadly so, 6-10 cm. long, 1-2.5 cm. wide, 3-nerved, gradually narrowed to the tip, entire, sessile, glaucescent beneath; bracts linear-oblanceolate, shorter than the calyx or sometimes leaflike and longer than the calyx; flowers 4-5 cm. long, dark blue, sessile; calyx-tube subtruncate at the apex, 12-15 mm. long, the lobes unequal, erect, some­times toothlike or leaf like; plaits of corolla short, nearly trun­cate; capsules stipitate, not exserted from the corolla; seeds minutely reticulate, caudate at both ends. Aug.-Sept. Lowlands and mountains;

Hokkaido, Honshu (n. distr. to n. Kinki Distr. along the Japan Sea side). s. Kuriles and Sa­khalin. Korea, and e. Si­beria.

var. montana (H. Hara) H.Hara. Stems low, few-flowered; flow­ers 3.5-45 cm. long.  Alpine; Hokkaido, Honshu (n. distr.).-- s. Kuriles and Sakhalin.

var. horomuiensis (Kudo) H.Hara. Leaves linear-lanceolate. Boggy places; Hokkaido.