Dwarf plants; leaves few, tufted, recurved and usually closely appressed to the ground, membranous, olivaceous, linear, 1-1.5 cm. long, to 1 mm. wide at the middle, attenuate and subulate at the apex, densely strigose with whitish appressed antrorse hairs on both surfaces, not fenestrate; sheaths tightly appressed, 2-2.5 cm. long, greatly surpassing the leaves, densely pilose with irregular whitish hairs, deeply lobed at the apex; peduncles several per plant, stramineous, slender, rather obscurely costate, slightly twisted, glabrous; heads hemispheric, light gray or ashy, 3.5-4.5 mm. wide; involucral bractlets membranous, narrowly obovate or oblanceolate, about 2 mm. long and 1 mm. wide, brunnescent toward the middle, hyaline at the margins; receptacular bractlets none; staminate florets: pedicellate; pedicels about 0.5 mm. long, villous; sepals hyaline, transparent, narrow-elliptic, about 1.2 mm. long, about 0.5 mm. wide, glabrous; petal-tube hyaline, trans-lucent, about 1.5 mm. long, 3-lobed at the apex; anthers 3, white; pistillate florets: pedicellate (pedicels about 0.7 mm. long, villous); sepals 3, free, hyaline, transparent, narrowly lanceolate, about 1.7 mm. long, about 0.5 mm. wide at the base, sharply acute or acuminate at the apex, glabrous throughout; petals narrowly oblong, hyaline and transparent, about 1 mm. long and 0.3 mm. wide, glabrous, connate by their margins above, free at the base.
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