Perennials or subshrubs, 30-50(-100) cm. Stems ± decumbent to erect. Leaves: petioles 0-2 mm; blades narrowly lance-elliptic to lanceolate or spatulate, 1-3(-6+) cm × 4-10(-20) mm, margins usually entire, rarely toothed, faces glabrous, rarely gland-dotted. Heads in racemiform arrays. Peduncles 2-7+ mm. Involucres ± campanulate to urceolate, 5-7+ mm. Phyllaries: outer 6-10 distinct, ± herbaceous. Paleae linear to spatulate (distally dilated), 5-6 mm. Pistillate florets 2-5; corollas 0.3-1.5 mm. Functionally staminate florets 8-12+; corollas 4-5 mm. Cypselae 4-5 mm. 2n = 34.
Flowering Jul-Oct. Dunes, beaches, at or near tidelands; 0-10 m; Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex., Va.; West Indies (Bahamas, Cuba).
Perennial, somewhat fleshy, glabrous herb or subshrub 3-6(-10) dm, commonly decumbent and branching at base; lvs oblanceolate to linear oblong or elliptic, mostly 1.5-4(-6) cm נ4-10 dm, entire or with a few spreading teeth, scarcely or obscurely petiolate, only the lower opposite; invol 4-7 mm, accrescent, with 6-9 broad, rounded, imbricate bracts; pistillate fls 2-4, with tubular cor 1-1.5 mm tending to persist on the copiously resin-dotted achene; 2n=34. Dunes along the seashore; Va. to Fla., and La.; Bahamas; Cuba. Aug., Sept.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.