Herb 4–14 (–24) cm high. Leaves linear to lanceolate, 2–7 cm long, 1.5–4.7 mm wide, 5–10-nerved, acute to acuminate. Peduncle 4–14 (–24) cm long, with 4–6 ribs. Sheath 17–35 (–50) mm long. Flower heads hemispherical or globular, 2.3–5 mm long, 3.5–5 mm wide. Involucral bracts hyaline to straw-yellow, obovate, oblanceolate or elliptic, 1.2–2.2 mm long, 0.5–1.1 mm wide, acute to obtuse, glabrous, strongly reflexed at maturity. Floral bracts black, oblanceolate to spathulate, 1.5–2.3 mm long, 0.7–1.2 mm wide, acuminate or acute, glabrous or rarely sparsely pubescent with white hairs. Receptacle sparsely hairy to densely pilose, rarely glabrous, conical. Male flowers 1–1.6 mm long; sepals 3, fused but split on one side to form a spathe, sometimes deeply lobed, black, 1–1.6 mm long, 0.5–0.8 mm wide, truncate, lacerated, glabrous or rarely with occasional white hairs; petals 3, sometimes obscure, hyaline, dimorphic with one larger in spathe opening, triangular, acute, glabrous or pubescent with white hairs in apical fringe; stamens 6; anthers black. Female flowers: sometimes variable in head with some flowers lacking smaller median sepal and sometimes either the 2 smaller petals or the larger petal; sepals (2 or) 3, black, dimorphic with one reduced or sometimes absent, navicular or geniculate, lacking dorsal keel or wing or dorsally keeled, 0.9–1.5 mm long, 0.15–0.43 mm wide, acute, glabrous or sparsely pubescent with white hairs on upper margin; median sepal linear, 0.45–1.1 mm long, 0.02–0.1 mm wide, acute, glabrous; petals variable 1, 2 or typically 3, hyaline, equal or slightly dimorphic with one larger, narrowly elliptic, 1–1.4 mm long, 0.28–0.3 mm wide, smaller petals 0.75–0.8 mm long, c. 0.1 mm wide, acute or obtuse or truncate, pubescent with white hairs on upper margin and apex, hyaline hairs typically on margin, rarely absent; ovary 3-locular. Seeds 0.3–0.45 mm long, 0.2–0.34 mm wide; epidermal cells transversely elongated, unidirectional peg-like projections on transverse walls.
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