Carex conica var. conica ("Himekansuge")

Japanese name: ヒメカンスゲ （姫寒菅）
Scientific name: Carex conica var. conica

[Overview]
A perennial 20–50 cm tall, found in slightly dry woods and woodland edges on hillside slopes.
The rhizome is short and sometimes spreads by stolons creeping above ground.
The leaves are numerous and dense, linear, about 0.2–0.4 cm wide, dark green with little gloss, and rough along the margins.
Spikelets are borne at the stem tip; the terminal spikelet is male and club-shaped, 1.5–2.5 cm long, while the 2–4 lateral spikelets are female and short cylindrical, 1–2.5 cm long.
The bracts have short blades, and the sheaths are long, sometimes tinged dark brown at the base.
The female scales are obovate and tinged dark purplish brown, with awns 0.5–1 mm long.
The perigynia are elliptical, about 0.3 cm long, with short soft hairs, sometimes reddish brown along the veins, and the upper end forms a short beak that bends abruptly outward.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by division.
The seeds need light to germinate, so cover them with only a very thin layer of soil.
It grows in sun to partial shade and prefers well-drained soil.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient once established.
If fertilizer is applied at planting, no further fertilizing is particularly necessary.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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