Japan Flora: Low densely tufted perennial without stolons; culms 20-40 cm. long, slender but firm, glabrous or scabrous below the panicle; radi­cal leaves elongate, 5-20 cm. long, rather firm, involute, gla­brous, green or glaucous-green, the blades 0.4-0.6 mm. wide, weakly 3- to 7-nerved, scarcely sulcate; culm-leaves short; lig­ules less than 0.5 mm. long; panicles erect, narrow, 5-8 cm. long, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, the branches solitary or geminate; spikelets 5-7 mm. long, green to glaucous-green, sometimes purplish, 3- to 6-flowered; glumes lanceolate, acute, the upper longer, 3-3.5 mm. long, 3-nerved with short lateral nerves; lemmas narrowly oblong, rather coriaceous to charta­ceous, 3.5-4.5 mm. long, scabrous, rounded on back, with a straight apical awn to 2 mm. long, or awnless; anthers 1.5-25 mm. long; ovary glabrous. June-Aug. Mountains.

Hok­kaido, Honshu (centr. distr. and northw.); rather rare. The species is widespread in Eurasia and N. America.

var. duriuscula (L.) Koch. Blades firm, 0.7-1 mm. wide, otherwise simulating the typical phase. Shikoku; rare.  Eurasia.

var. coreana St. Yves. Culms 20-40 cm. long, puberulent or pubescent below the panicle; leaf-blades less firm, sometimes puberulent; panicles green to glaucous-green, 4-8 cm. long.  Low mountains; Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; common. Korea.

var. tateyamensis Ohwi. Rather soft, smooth and glabrous alpine phase; culms 10-20 cm. long; leaf-blades filiform, sulcate; panicles 2-4 cm. long, purplish; lemmas 3-4 mm. long; anthers 1.5 mm. long. Alpine regions. Honshu (centr. distr.); rare.

var. chiisanensis Ohwi. Chiisan-ushi-no-kegusa. Al­lied to var. coreana, but the leaves more soft, sulcate. mountains; Shikoku; rare