Japan Flora: Stemless annual; leaves linear, 2-10 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, acute, 7- to 9-nerved; peduncles several, 7-10 cm. long, soft, 4- or 5-ribbed; heads hemisphaerical, 2 mm. long, 4 mm. across; involucral bracts ovate-oblong, obtuse, about 2 mm. long, shorter than the disc flowers, usually the upper half blackish; receptacle pilose; floral bracts broadly obovate, 2 mm. long, rather obtuse, glabrous except minutely ciliate on the margin; pistillate flowers exceeding the bracts; calyx an olive­black 3-lobed spathe, glabrous outside, minutely ciliolate on the upper margin, pilose inside; petals 3, free, lanceolate, cuneate at base, subbifid at apex, long-pilose inside; stigmas 3, longer than the style. 

Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu. Korea.

var. nakasimanum (Satake) T. Koyama. Differs from the typical variety in the glabrous receptacle, not blacldsh in­volucre, and quite glabrous petals.  Kyushu.

var. intermedium Nakai ex Satake. A transitional phase between the typical variety and var. nal^asimanum, distinguishable from the former by the not blackish involucral bracts. Honshu (w. distr.) and Kyushu.

var. hananoegoense (Masam.) T. Koyama. A dwarf phase of the typical variety known only on Yakushima (Kyu­shu).

var. glaberrimum (Satake) T. Koyama Flowers of both sexes wholly glabrous except the pistillate petals which are pilose inside. Hokkaido (Nemuro).