Japanese name: ササノハスゲ（笹葉菅） Scientific name:Carex pachygyna
[Overview]
A perennial 15–30 cm tall, growing in forests in the mountains.
The rhizome creeps and is thickened.
The stem is soft, with a pale-colored sheath at the base.
The ligule is membranous and tinged pale pink.
The leaves are lanceolate, 1–2 cm wide, hairless, and the previous year's leaves remain without withering even at flowering time.
Several globose spikelets 4–6 mm long are borne at the stem tip; at the top of each spikelet is a very short, indistinct male part, with the female part below it.
The scales of the female flowers are shorter than the perigynia, broadly ovate, and greenish white.
The stigma is thick and short, and divided into 3.
The leaves of the flowering stem are reduced and have the same shape as the bracts.
The bracts are ovate, with a long sheath-like base.
The perigynia are three-ridged, 2–2.5 mm long, and hairless.
[Notes]
The name likens the shape of the leaves to bamboo grass (sasa).
