Japan Flora: Tufted perennial with short rhizomes, sometimes also stoloniferous; culms slender, 15-50 cm. long; radical leaves elongate, the blades loosely involute, 10-20 cm. long, 1-2 mm. wide, glabrous or nearly so; sheaths often partly reddish; ligules very short; panicles 5-12 cm. long; spikelets 5-10 mm. long, 3- to 7-flowead; glumes broadly lanceolate, the upper larger, 3-6 mm. long; lemmas narrowly ovate, 4-7 mm. long, glabrous or sparingly pubescent, scabrous, the awn to 3 mm. long; anthers 2-2.5 mm. long. June-Aug. Common in mountains, sometimes on rocks near the seashore; Hokkaido, Honshu (centr. distr. and northw.).   Sakhalin, Kuriles, and Korea, to the temperate and boreal regions of Europe and N. America. 

var. pacifica Honda. Leaf­blades loosely involute, about 2.5 mm. wide; panicles pale green, otherwise plants simulating the preceding var. Rocks near the seashore; Honshu (centr. distr. and westw.), Shikoku, Kyushu.

Var. hondoensis Ohwi. Innovation shoots mostly intravaginal; lemmas violascent, awn less, otherwise plants simulat­ing var.  rubra.  mountains; Honshu (centr. distr.); rare.

Var. musashiensis (Honda) Ohwi. F. musaihiensis Honda Asakawa-so. Slender, glabrous, green; leaves elongate; spikelets green; glumes and lemmas ciliate. Honshu (Asakawa near Tokyo); rare.