Japan Flora: More or less pilose, tufted perennial with short rhizomes; culms rather rigid, 48-80 cm. long; leaf-blades flat or loosely involute, 10-20 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, narrowed at both ends; racemes nodding or pendulous, 7-13 cm. long; spikelets about 10, erect, pale green, 15-30 mm. long, 4- to 10-flowered; pedicels about 1 mm. long; glumes unequal, lanceolate, acuminate, the lower 5-7 mm. long, 3- to 4-nerved, the upper 8-11 mm. long, 7- to 8-nerved; lemmas lanceolate, 10-12 mm. long, acute, slightly scabrous, the apical awn straight, 5-10 mm. long; palea slightly shorter than the lemma; anthers 2-3 mm. long. June-July. Woods.

Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; very common.  Temperate regions of the Old World.