Perennial herbs. Taproot thick, grayish brown to dark brown; bark sometimes broken, with exposed red-brown fibers. Caudex thickened, woody, with short clumped woody branches; branches densely covered by white membranous scales and persistent petioles, with 1 terminal bud or several buds and many heads. Leaf blade linear-lanceolate to oblong-spatulate, 10--15(--25) X 1--4 mm including petiole, base attenuate, apex acuminate, obtuse, or rounded. Inflorescences capitate to spicate-capitate, unbranched, 1 borne on every leaf rosette; peduncle and rachis simple, flexuous to straight, ± verrucose or not verrucose, nodes with a narrowly triangular to linear-triangular white membranous scale; sterile branches axillary in scales, needlelike, straight or curved, usually simple or rarely shortly branched, hidden or exposed; spikes (1 or)2 or 3, crowded, terminal, with (1 or)2--10 spikelets; spikelets (1 or)2--5(--10)-flowered; bracts ovate, (2--)4--5 mm; first bractlet 8--10(--12) mm. Calyx funnelform; limb fleshy yellow, lobes apically acuminate to obtuse. Corolla orange. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Jul-Aug.
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