Carex lenta var. lenta ("Nakirisuge")

Japanese name: ナキリスゲ （菜切菅）
Scientific name: Carex lenta var. lenta

[Overview]
An evergreen perennial 40–60 cm tall, found mainly in woods on level ground.
The rhizome is short and densely clumped, and it does not produce stolons.
The stem is slender, with a dark brown sheath at the base.
The leaves are numerous and dense, linear, about 3 mm wide, hard, and rough.
The flower stem emerging from the sheath at the base of a bract bears 1–3 spikelets, and the whole stem has a dozen or so spikelets.
The spikelets are cylindrical, 5–20 mm long and 3–4 mm wide, with a short male part above and a female part below it.
The scales of the female flowers are ovate and tinged with reddish brown.
The lower on the stem a bract is attached, the larger and more leaf-like it is.
The perigynium is lens-shaped, 3–3.5 mm long, with veins and hairs, and its upper end forms a short beak.

[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 plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient once they are established.
If fertilizer is applied at planting, no further fertilizing is particularly necessary.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

[Notes]
The Japanese name was given because the leaves are rough and seem as if they could cut even nappa (leafy greens).

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