Plants 35-75(-150) cm. Corms globose to elongate. Stems hirtel-lous. Leaves: basal and proximal cauline 1-nerved, spatulate-oblance-olate to narrowly oblanceolate, 40-150(-180) × 4-8(-11) mm, abruptly reduced (linear, 1-2 mm wide), then gradually reduced distally, essentially glabrous or hirtellous (sometimes mostly along abaxial midveins), gland-dotted. Heads (appressed, overlapping) in dense, spiciform arrays. Peduncles 0. Involucres cylindric, 8-12 × 3.5-5 mm. Phyllaries in 3(-4) series, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, unequal, usually glabrous, rarely minutely puberulent, margins with hyaline borders, apices acute to acuminate. Florets 3-4; corolla tubes glabrous inside. Cypselae (3-)4-6 mm; pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles barbellate. 2n = 20.

Flowering Aug-Oct. Dunes, beach strands, sand ridges, fields, roadsides, longleaf pine savannas, longleaf pine-turkey oak, turkey oak, evergreen oak-sand pine-scrub, scrub with Ceratiola and Pinus clausa; 0-50 m; Ala., Fla., Ga.