Japan Flora: Relatively robust stemless annual; leaves tufted, linear, 10-13 cm. long, 5-6 mm. wide, gradually attenuate to a somewhat firm obtuse rip, 9- to 11-nerved; peduncles numerous, 10-18 cm. long, twisted, 5-ribbed; heads turbinate, 5 mm. long, 6-7 mm. across, but to 1-1.2 cm. wide including the in­volucre; involucral bracts 10-12, spreading, lanceolate, about 2 mm. wide, acute, the outer 5-7 mm. long, 3-nerved, much exceeding the disc flowers; receptacle more or less pilose; floral bracts ovate-oblong, glabrous except for the ciliolate upper margin, blackish above; pistillate flowers 2.7-3 mm. long, the calyx a blackish spathe almost glabrous except pilose inside, 3-lobed, the petals 3, free, lanceolate, glabrous at apex, pilose inside, the stigmas 3, slightly longer than the style.  

Honshu (Shimotsuke Prov.); local. Possibly this is a natural hybrid between E. atrum Nakai X E. hondoense Satake            

f. glabrum Satake. Receptacle almost glabrous; involucre shorter, nearly as long as the disc flowers. Occurs with the typical phase

Slender acaulescent annual; leaves slenderly linear, few, 5-12 cm. Jong, to 1 mm. wide, long-acuminate, 4-nerved; peduncles 1-4, 10-15 cm. long, 4-ribbed; heads turbinate, 45- 5.5 mm. long, 4-6 mm. across, the receptacle glabrous; in­volucral bracts 5 or 6, lanceolate, 2.5-6 mm. long, gradually acuminate, much exceeding the disc flowers; flowers 9-17 to a head； floral bracts lanceolate, hyaline, short-acute, slightly shorter than the flower; staminate flowers with a spathelike rounded to shallowly emarginate calyx; pistillate flowers 3.7 mm. long, the sepals connate into a hyaline oval quite gla­brous spathe, minutely 3-tootlied at apex, the petals 3, free, narrowly ovate, stipitate, glabrous, with a small gland inside extending upward, the stigmas 3, shorter than the style.

Honshu (Lake Shirakaba, Shinano Prov.)