Eriocaulon bongense Engl. & Ruhland ex Ruhland

Rosulate herb, fairly robust, probably annual.. Leaves ensiform, 3–6 cm. long, 4–7 mm. wide, spongy, subacute.. Scapes 1–16, flexuous, 10–35 cm. high, 5–7-ribbed; sheaths exceeding the leaves, slightly inflated, the mouth deeply obliquely slit with an acute limb.. Capitulum globose to conical, 5–8 mm. diameter, shaggy, shining pale silvery-grey with yellowish involucral bracts; involucral bracts forming a crateriform base to the capitulum, scarious with coriaceous lower part, obovate, 3.0–3.5 mm. long, broadly rounded with small central cusp, reflexing at maturity; floral bracts oblanceolate to cuneate-oblong, scarious, glabrous, pallid flushed grey, incurving, the tip extended into a long slender cusp; receptacle pilose; flowers trimerous, 2.0–2.5 mm. long, pedicellate.. Male flowers: sepals free, linear, subequal or one slightly smaller, pallid to grey, glabrous; petals tiny, glabrous or white-pilose, eglandular; anthers dark.. Female flowers: sepals narrowly linear, slightly geniculate, subequal or one noticeably smaller, pallid or grey, glabrous, acuminate; petals and ovary raised on a stipe; petals linear, white, subequal or the odd petal up to a third larger, eglandular, white-pilose at the tips.. Seeds ellipsoid, 0.35 mm. long, brown, reticulate with white papillae outlining the reticulations.. Fig. 3/8; fig. 4/6.